Brazil Orders X Ban: Why Using A VPN Could Be An Expensive Mistake

Over the past few weeks, Elon Musk and Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes have been exchanging barbs over fake news and hate speech proliferation on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Today, the top court has ordered an immediate suspension of X's services in the country and has also levied a hefty fine for anyone trying to access the platform using VPN services, reports the Associated Press.

The order to ban X in the country comes after the court gave the social media company a deadline for appointing a local legal representative to oversee its operations in the country. Following the court's order, Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency has started limiting access, and has asked Google and Apple to delist the mobile app from Play Store and App Store, respectively.

Earlier this month, X shuttered its office in Brazil citing threats of an arrest made against its country representative if they didn't comply with certain content orders given by the government. The social media platform didn't comply with requests for taking appropriate action against accounts that were allegedly engaged in spreading misinformation, while arguing that it won't bow down to censorship.

With the ban coming into effect, many users might naturally gravitate toward using a VPN service to circumvent the block and access the social media platform. But in his order, Judge Moraes mentioned a fine worth 50,000 Brazilian reals (roughly $8,900) for any person or entity found using VPNs to visit X against the country-wide suspension order. That fine is not a one-time payment. Instead, the hefty penalty will be levied on a per-day basis.

Back in April, Musk suggested X users in Brazil do just that. "To ensure that you can still access the 𝕏 platform, download a virtual private network (VPN) app," he wrote in a post. The issue of VPNs has been quite contentious. On one hand, journalists and human rights activists prefer it so that they can avoid snooping, but governments' stand differs. In many countries, using VPNs to circumvent a ban amounts to a violation of local telecom laws, and can be punishable with fines as well as police action.

This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X. It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to...

— Starlink (@Starlink) August 29, 2024

X, on the other hand, apparently anticipated the order. "Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders," X shared in a statement ahead of the court order. In addition to X, the court has also acted against Starlink, Musk's satellite internet company. "In an unusual move, Justice Moraes also froze the finances of another Musk business in Brazil, SpaceX's Starlink satellite-internet service, to try to collect fines he has levied against X," reports The New York Times.