Despite a nationwide ban on the social media platform X in Brazil, some users have managed to regain access to the app. Experts believe that X has started routing users through the servers of Cloudflare, a content delivery network, as a way to bypass the ban. Cloudflare acts as a proxy, filtering traffic and protecting X’s servers from being identified.
The ban on X was put in place by Brazil’s Supreme Court last month after owner Elon Musk refused to comply with the country’s regulations on free speech and misinformation. Users could face fines for using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access the platform, making it effectively inaccessible in the country.
However, on Wednesday, the number of X posts in Brazil increased significantly, indicating that some users had found a way to bypass the ban. X released a statement attributing the temporary restoration of service to a change in network providers and expected the platform to be inaccessible again shortly.
Former President Jair Bolsonaro, who supported Musk in the dispute with the Supreme Court, welcomed the return of X and criticized the ban as censorship. The telecommunications regulator, Anatel, confirmed that there have been no changes to the Supreme Court’s ruling and plans to report on the situation.
Experts believe that ordering internet service providers to block Cloudflare, which many Brazilian companies rely on, would be impossible. It remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will respond to the situation and if fines will be levied against users found accessing X through VPNs.
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