X available once again in Brazil, but it's only a short-term "service restoration"

Brazilians can rejoice – but just temporarily – as social media platform X is once again available to many in Brazil, following a technical update that bypassed a previous block ordered by the country’s Supreme Court.

The ban had been put in place last month, after a prolonged disagreement between Elon Musk, the owner of X, and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The court had instructed Brazil’s mobile and internet service providers to block access to X, leading to a near-immediate cutoff for users across the country.

However, users in Brazil this week have rushed back to the platform, with some celebrating what they saw as Musk’s clever way of defying the court’s order.

Despite this, X later clarified that the temporary return of service was not intentional. According to the platform, the re-establishment of access was caused by a change in network providers, which inadvertently and temporarily restored service for Brazilian users.

In a post on the platform, X's Global Affairs team explained that the network provider switch was a consequence of the initial shutdown. The disruption meant that certain infrastructure supporting X's operations across Latin America was impacted.

As a result of these changes, Brazilian users were briefly able to access the platform. However, X also warned that this access would likely be blocked again in the near future. I'm sure they'll find new ways to block X and that doesn't add up well with the idea that we're living in a "free country".

The Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Providers (Abrint) shed more light on the situation, explaining that the platform's update caused some Brazilian users to be rerouted through third-party cloud services outside of Brazil. This rerouting allowed users to bypass the block, even without using virtual private networks (VPNs), which are commonly used to access restricted sites.

Meanwhile, Brazil's national telecommunications agency, Anatel, is actively working to inform telecom companies and content delivery network providers that they must reinstate the block on X. However, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, it is unclear how quickly service providers will comply with this directive.

Basilio Perez, a board member at Abrint, noted that any new directive from Anatel enforcing the Supreme Court’s ruling will need to be carefully worded. Blocking access to cloud services is a complicated process, and there are concerns that it could inadvertently disrupt critical services, including those used by government institutions and financial service providers, Perez added.