Elon Musk's X/Twitter

X offline – Brazilians flock to rival Bluesky

Elon Musk's social media platform X was shut down on Saturday in Brazil, the day after a court order, The Guardian reports.

Half a million of the more than 20 million X users in Brazil have now switched to rival Bluesky, which posted a welcome message in Portuguese.

According to web developer Kuba Suder, 73.7 percent of posts on the platform in the past 24 hours – a total of 3.25 million – have been written in Portuguese.

X was shut down in Brazil after Elon Musk refused to obey HD judge Alexandre de Morae's calls to shut down accounts accused of spreading misinformation.

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Opposition politician: "An attack on democracy"

Brazilian HD judge Alexandre de Morae's decision to shut down platform X in Brazil is dividing the country. It is noticeable not least on X, where many rushed to write their "last post" when the news came out on Friday evening.

"An attack on democracy and the entire nation," wrote senator and ex-president Jair Bolsonaro's former women's minister Damares Alves. "Dictatorship," wrote liberal congressmen Carla Zambelli and Nikolas Ferreira, among many others, urging people to join a demonstration on September 7.

Most supporters of Lula da Silva's government applaud the decision. According to his former sports minister, the communist Orlando Silva, the legislators have "left a void" by not regulating digital platforms.

"As long as Congress does not do so, the judiciary is responsible for maintaining Brazil's sovereignty and legal control," he writes on X.

But even among those who support the government, some are beginning to think that HD judge Moraes has gone too far. Political analyst André Cesar tells Reuters:

- He thinks he has public opinion on his side, but I wonder for how long.