These tensions can be traced back to January 8, 2023, when supporters of Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro attacked Brazil’s federal government buildings in the capital, Brasília. This incident followed Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat, which sparked significant political unrest across the country. In response, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes implemented strict oversight measures targeting social media platforms in Brazil. These measures included demands for X to remove content promoting "far-right" and "anti-democratic" rhetoric and to suspend accounts linked to individuals involved in such activities.
In 2024, tensions between the judiciary and X continued to escalate. In April, Moraes named X's owner, Elon Musk, as a key target in an investigation into the “spread of fake news”. As X continued to resist demands to take down certain accounts, regulatory action intensified. In response, Musk declared the closure of X’s offices in the country. Despite this, the platform continued to fail to comply, prompting the Supreme Court to issue a decisive ruling on August 30. The court ordered the suspension of X's operations in Brazil and imposed stricter restrictions, including freezing the bank accounts of Musk's Starlink company in the country. Musk responded on his social media, accusing the Justice of “destroying it for political purposes” and stating that “free speech is the bedrock of democracy.”
Under mounting pressure, X signaled a shift in its stance in late September, expressing willingness to seek reconciliation. On October 8, X pledged to fully comply with court orders, including paying all accrued fines, blocking nine accounts under investigation, and reinstating its legal representative. As a result, the platform was granted permission to gradually resume operations in Brazil. In an official statement, X expressed its return to Brazil, stating: “Giving tens of millions of Brazilians access to our indispensable platform was paramount throughout this entire process. We will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law, everywhere we operate.”
From a market perspective, Brazil holds irreplaceable strategic value as one of its largest markets outside the United States. As an emerging economy with a population of 214 million, Brazil stands out with its large base of internet user base, a notably young population, and some of the highest social media usage rates in the world. However, this incident has adversely affected X’s market reputation. Many users now view the platform as less conducive to meaningful dialogue, while others have observed a substantial decline in its ability to effectively disseminate content.
Social media regulation in Brazil
From the perspective of social media regulation, the issues faced by Platform X in Brazil highlight the complex relationship between sovereign states and transnational platform operators in the digital era. Back to 2014, Brazil’s federal government introduced the Civil Framework for the Internet (Marco Civil da Internet), establishing a foundational legal framework for internet governance in the country. This legislation emphasised user privacy protection and net neutrality principles, as well as mechanisms for platform liability. Specifically, platforms are required to comply with judicial takedown orders; failure to promptly remove unlawful content created by users results in legal responsibility for the platform.
President Lula da Silva, expressed support for Moraes’s actions, emphasising the country’s regulatory responsibilities in the digital domain. The Supreme Court’s ruling explicitly accused X of fostering a “harmful social environment,” particularly in light of the upcoming 2024 municipal elections. The government expressed serious concerns about the platform’s role in spreading far-right, racist, and other extremist content. The ruling further accused X of deliberately ignoring court orders, stating that “extremist groups and digital militias” are using the platform to disseminate “Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful, and anti-democratic rhetoric.” This reflects the Brazilian government’s fundamental stance on digital governance under the current administration.
Elon Musk, an entrepreneur whose influence spans sustainable energy, space exploration, artificial intelligence, and more, has transformed X into a platform that increasingly serves to promote his personal ideologies. This shift signifies a departure from X’s original role as a public social media platform, morphing instead into a vehicle that advances its owner’s broader strategic priorities. In contrast, Brazil, as a sovereign state, has actively sought to balance the principles of an open internet with its regulatory responsibilities, particularly in areas critical to national security and social order.
Political dynamics in Latin America's digital landscape
In addition, the X platform incident reflects the complex left-right political dynamics in Brazil and across Latin America. In the contemporary Latin American political landscape, social media platforms like X have become key drivers of the new right’s rise. Musk’s frequent interactions on X with figures such as Argentina’s newly elected president Javier Milei and Bolsonaro have elevated his status as a symbolic leader for the region’s extreme conservatives, with many viewing him as a "superhero" of the Latin American new right.
In virtual society, polarized rhetoric leverages social media’s unique mechanisms to attract audiences with strong partisan identities, exacerbating political divides. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in Latin America, where entrenched social inequalities, uneven access to education, and sharp ideological swings have amplified the region’s political divisions. Social media deepens these divides, creating “echo chambers” that deepen mistrust between opposing groups. This erosion of social trust can destabilize societies, turning digital polarisation into a significant factor behind social unrest.
This regulatory dispute has strongly reinforced the Brazilian government’s determination and capacity to effectively oversee multinational social media platforms. This incident is not an isolated case but a reflection of the complex governance challenges faced by many Latin American and other emerging countries in the digital age. Balancing the protection of freedom of expression while preventing social media from becoming a vehicle for extreme political agendas, reconciling the commercial interests of digital platforms with the need for social stability, and constructing a legal framework that fosters both innovation and effective regulation are challenges that governments, platform companies, and society as a whole must collaboratively address and resolve.