ADF International reports that X is back online for its 40 million users in Brazil after a 39-day blockade — at least for now:

Justice Alexandre De Moraes, who controversially banned the platform in August, has lifted the blockade following the conclusion of national elections.

The stated objection of the ban was to prevent “misinformation” and “hate speech” ahead of the election. Free speech advocates at ADF International described the censorship of Brazilians as “a breach of human rights”.

ADF International has filed a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in relation to the social media ban, representing five Brazilian legislators who were obstructed from communicating with their audience of millions ahead of a national election.

The legislators – Senator Eduardo Girao & Members of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Van Hattem, Adriana Ventura, Gilson Marques & Ricardo Salles – claim severe violations of their free speech rights from persistent state censorship, dating back to 2019, reaching a head with the ban.

In September, over 100 global free speech advocates – including UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, journalist Michael Shellenberger, five US Attorneys General and Senior UK, US, European and Latin American politicians and professors united in an open letter to call for free speech to be restored in Brazil. Brasília (8 October 2024)

ADF International is a public interest law firm.

The Supreme Court’s ruling seems to be part of an international trend toward attempted government control of the news stream.

Many of those X loyalists were probably risking huge fines to stay tuned via VPNs. Our Brazil contact, Enezio E. de Almeida Filho notes that — perhaps as a telling display of public sentiment — the majority of city mayors elected on Oct. 6 elections “are not sympathetic to the internet takeover by the Brazilian Supreme Court. We won, despite being censored and persecuted!”

Indie journalist Matt Taibbi notes at MercatorNet — speaking about the current situation in general, “The dirty secret of “content moderation” everywhere is that it’s a tiny sliver of the educated rich correcting everyone else.”

The Brazilians’ struggle is probably only beginning. ADF’s Latin America director, Tomas Henriquez, notes,

De Moraes is only now agreeing to lift the blockade, after the elections are over. Censorship has been a persistent and escalating problem in Brazil since 2019. We will continue to make the case that the actions of De Moraes and the greater climate of censorship are unacceptable, until the day that freedom of expression and information are once again secured for all in Brazil.

You may also wish to read: On September 2, X now banned in Brazil; Huge fines threaten secret users