Glitch makes X temporarily available in Brazil

Sao Paulo — Social media platform X became accessible to many users in Brazil on Wednesday as an update to its communications network circumvented a block order by the country’s Supreme Court.

Last month, after a months-long dispute between X owner Elon Musk and Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court had ordered Brazil’s mobile and internet service providers to block the platform and users were cut off within hours.

But Brazilians flooded back onto the platform on Wednesday, with some cheering what they called a manoeuvre by Musk to flout the law.

But X later said that a switch in network providers had resulted in “an inadvertent and temporary service restoration” for Brazilian users.

X’s Global Affairs team, in a post to the social media platform, said the switch had been spurred by the shutdown, as it meant certain infrastructure for the rest of Latin America was no longer accessible.

Brazilians’ access to the platform, however, will likely be blocked again soon, X said.

The Brazilian Association of internet and Telecommunications Providers (Abrint) explained that the X update had routed some Brazilian users through third-party cloud services outside the country, allowing them to access the platform even without a virtual private network (VPN).

Brazil’s telecommunications regulator Anatel is working to notify content delivery network providers and telecom companies to block access again to X in Brazil, though it’s not clear how long it will take for providers to comply with the order, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Any revised order from Anatel, which is responsible for implementing the court ruling, will need to be worded carefully, said Basilio Perez, a board member at Abrint.

Blocking cloud access is complex, and could jeopardise government agencies and financial services providers, he added.

Reuters