PanamaTimes

Sunday, Jul 06, 2025

Brazil Latest Country To Ban X

Today's CNNBC top topic highlights a deeply troubling development in Brazil. A Supreme Court judge, accused of corruption, has blocked access for all 203 million Brazilians to the legitimate and informative news updates on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
This move, aimed at preventing the exposure of corruption among Brazilian officials that many reliable users on Elon Musk’s platform have been revealing to the world, places Brazil among a select group of nations that restrict access to this social network—often under authoritarian regimes—and marks a pivotal moment in the country's ongoing struggle for democracy, transparency, and free speech.

A key figure in this decision is the controversial Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, whose actions to cover up corruption by abusing his judicial power underscore growing concerns over censorship and the infringement of Brazilian citizens' fundamental right to know, which is an essential condition for the functioning of democracy.

Elon Musk's X has been a crucial platform for political dissidents worldwide. However, its access has been blocked in several regions to suppress dissent. For example, in Egypt during the Arab Spring (2011), the government blocked Twitter to stifle protests. In Turkey (2014), Twitter was blocked after leaks exposed government corruption, and again in 2023, following the earthquakes, to control criticism of the government's response. In Uzbekistan (2021), access was restricted during the presidential election to control the political narrative and suppress opposition voices.

In China: Twitter has been blocked since June 2009, leading users to switch to local platforms like Weibo and WeChat, which are under government legal control. These platforms are less vulnerable to Western media manipulation operations designed to undermine China's economic, social, and technological progress and success.

In Iran, after the disputed 2009 presidential election, Twitter was blocked but continued to serve as a crucial tool for spreading information about freedom, women's rights, human rights, and modernization movements, despite the restrictions.

In Turkmenistan: A state-run monopoly controls internet access, with Twitter being blocked since the early 2010s. In the so-called 'Democratic People's Republic of Korea', (North Korea), internet access is severely restricted to government-approved sites, with Twitter blocked since April 2016. In Myanmar, formerly Burma, access to X has been restricted following the 2021 military coup and the ongoing genocide of the Rohingya people.

In Russia, a formal ban on Twitter was enacted in March 2022, following NATO's placement of missiles near the Ukrainian border, which violated the 2015 Minsk agreement—a violation Russia cited as a key factor leading to its invasion of Ukraine. Despite the ban, many Russian users, including officials, continue to access the platform using VPN services.

In Pakistan: Twitter was banned during parliamentary polls in February this year for so-called 'security reasons.'

In Venezuela: After declaring victory over the U.S.-backed candidate Edmundo González, Nicolás Maduro's government blocked access to X, claiming it was necessary to protect citizens from what they perceived as a U.S. attempt to destabilize Venezuela and take control of its oil industry.

Now, Brazil joins this list, highlighting the ongoing battle over internet, journalism, speech freedom, and human rights. Users attempting to access X via a VPN in Brazil face hefty fines of $8,900 per day, imposed by a corrupt supreme court judge without any legal authority to invent such a law.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the controversial Starmer government has taken an Orwellian turn with a draconian and anti-democratic law that criminalizes any expression of legitimate opinion that might dare to offend someone.

The irony? In a society that once prided itself on free speech, it’s now virtually impossible to debate, critique, or even voice a thought without risking criminal charges. How can a society claim to support open discourse when it silences any opinion that might ruffle a few feathers? This law doesn’t just raise concerns—it sounds the death knell for free speech in what’s now a far cry from the UK's falsely claimed status as a true democracy.
Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Brazilian Congress Rejects Lula's Proposed Tax Increase on Financial Transactions
Landslide in Bello, Colombia, Results in Multiple Casualties
Papa Johns pizza surge near the Pentagon tipped off social media before Trump's decisive Iran strike
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Sole Survivor of Air India Crash Recounts Escape
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Protests Erupt in Los Angeles with Symbolic Flag Burning
Trump Administration Issues New Travel Ban Targeting 12 Countries
Man Group Mandates Full-Time Office Return for Quantitative Analysts
JPMorgan Warns Analysts Against Accepting Future-Dated Job Offers
Builder.ai Faces Legal Scrutiny Amid Financial Misreporting Allegations
Japan Grapples with Rice Shortage Amid Soaring Prices
Goldman Sachs Reduces Risk Exposure Amid Market Volatility
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to Return to AIA as Non-Executive Chair
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Judge Blocks Trump's Ban on International Students at Harvard
Trump Proposes Travel Ban on 'Uncontrolled' Countries
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Eurozone Inflation Falls Below ECB Target to 1.9%
Call for a New Chapter in Globalisation Emerges
Blackstone and Rivals Diverge on Private Equity Strategy
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Netanyahu Accuses Western Leaders of 'Emboldening Hamas'
Escalating Trade Tensions and Market Reactions
OnlyFans Reportedly in Talks for $8 Billion Sale
JBS Gains Shareholder Approval for U.S. Stock Listing
Booz Allen Hamilton to Cut 2,500 Jobs Amid Federal Spending Reductions
Trump Signs Executive Orders to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Development
Harvard Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration's International Student Ban
Nippon Steel Forms Partnership with U.S. Steel, Headquarters to Remain in Pittsburgh
Trump Expands Tariff Threats to Apple and Samsung Devices
Oracle and OpenAI Plan $40 Billion Nvidia Chip Purchase for AI Data Center
Trump Threatens 50% Tariff on EU Goods, Markets React
×