Posted on 09/01/2024 6:12:55 AM PDT by MtnClimber
X, the social-media giant owned by Elon Musk, has officially been banned in Brazil. Last night, X failed to meet a deadline set by a Supreme Court judge to block vast swathes of content and appoint a local legal representative for the company. It has now gone offline to its 22million Brazilian users – roughly one tenth of the national population.
The Brazilian elites loathe X for precisely the same reason as the elites across the rest of the democratic world do – they blame it for the spread of so-called disinformation, particularly since it was taken over by Musk and its content-moderation policies were relaxed. Just as disinformation has been blamed for Brexit in the UK and Trump’s election in the US, it is blamed in Brazil for the 2018 election of right-wing firebrand Jair Bolsonaro – and especially for his supporters’ storming of the Brazilian congress in 2023 after he failed to win re-election (a kind of ‘January 6’ tribute act). Essentially, elites believe that fake news, by boosting populist movements, poses a direct challenge to their rule.
The censorship orders from judge Alexandre de Moraes, which X and Musk refused to comply with, make this all too clear. While Moraes claims he is merely trying to tackle disinformation, hate speech or what he calls ‘digital militias’ (those users promoting content that supposedly undermines democracy or the rule of law), his demands are nakedly political. As the New York Times reports, X was ordered to ban over 140 accounts, among them some of Brazil’s most prominent right-wing pundits and even elected members of congress. X has refused to comply as it says these takedown orders are themselves illegal and unconstitutional.
Tensions between Moraes and X erupted into the open back in April, when Musk publicly branded Moraes a ‘dictator’. But rows had been brewing behind the scenes, even before Musk took over what was then Twitter and rebranded it as a ‘free speech’ platform. As the Twitter Files reveal, between 2020 and 2022, Twitter’s legal counsel continually pushed back privately against requests for content to be removed and for data from anonymous users to be handed over to the state, noting that many of these requests were ‘illegal’, and not to mention ‘political’, in their blatant targeting of supporters of Bolsonaro.
Moraes’s moves against X are unprecedented in a democratic country. Banning or suspending an entire social-media platform is usually unheard of outside of despotic regimes. Indeed, in blocking access to X, Brazil now joins an ignoble list of authoritarian nations, including China, Iran, Russia and North Korea, that have done the same.
SNIP
The EU is likely to do this too.
That wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
In a nutshell, the elite want to make X a safe space. Never surrender Elon.
until the government leaders fear pissing off the people more than the people fear the government pissing on them, nothing changes. what the world needs now is love sweet lo...oh HECK no! what the world needs now is a good old fashioned French revolution complete with guiotines for the bureaucracy and elitist class of leaders. after all, if you can’t change their minds they don’t need their heads.
Well said
File sharing piracy is huge in Brazil. It’s possible to create a generic file sharing channel for banned free speech platforms. Free Republic might need something like this some day. VPNs are useful for some things, but VPNs make it easy for governments to connect people to their internet traffic.
Supply and demand says, the more there is the less it’s valued. We’ve got a lot of speech these days.
Kam and Tim will make an issue about the First Amend. They will want to restrict it.
Care to elaborate further on your...post?
Basically..a board of government experts will determine what is and is not allowed.
As well as the punishment.
.
Yeah, the new argument is free speech has limitations. So, shut down the platforms.
False argument because you are free to say whatever you want. It is what you say that is examined after you say it. For instance, you have a bulletin board and people post items for sale. Someone posts they are selling heroin. So, do you shut down the bulletin board, or do you find the person selling the heroin? Harris and the Sgt Bilko believe the BB should be shut down. False premise. Stifling people from saying something the first time is against the BOR IMO.
Before they ban me from commenting on the internet...F U!
Between Musk’s huge intelligence and his sense of humor, I’m betting payback will be something we’ll cheer.
Not really a taste of things to come, it’s always been like this which is why the US is one of very few, if any, nations that has codified free speech in its Constitution.
America needs to GET pissed and STAY pissed . . . . ISLAM is underground . . . . literally In Israel, and here in America disguised as refugees or immigrants . . . . WE HAVE BEEN INVADED ALREADY !. . . . COVID was the cover story to establish the attack gambit.
Ban Free Speech? That is why people donate to NPR.
“Officials” need to be reminded in an enthusiastic manner who they work for.
Is file sharing interactive like social media?
Is it like a mirror site?
Just curious.
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