The social network X updated its application on Wednesday with a technical change that allowed him to bypass the blockade that has in Brazilin the latest episode of a dispute between billionaire Elon Musk and the country’s justice system.
“The application X was updated overnight, resulting in a significant change in its structure“, said the Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Providers (Abrint).
That modification “The blockade became much more difficult“, he said in a statement posted on his website.
The ancient Twitter is back This Wednesday to be accessible to many users in Brazilafter having been suspended on August 30 by the Supreme Court, which accuses him of, among other things, not putting a stop to misinformation.
X switched to using Cloudflare servicesa cybersecurity company, Basílio Rodriguez Perez, a board member of Abrint, told AFP.
The latest version “no longer connects directly to X through X’s own networks, it accesses them through Cloudflare,” he said.
This company allows the Internet IP addresses are constantly changingmaking them harder to block than specific IP addresses, according to Abrint.
Why was X blocked in Brazil?
Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the blocking of the network owned by Musk accuse her of failing to comply with court orders to suspend accounts accused of misinformation and refuse to appoint a legal representative in Brazil.
Moraes also warned the 22 million X users in Brazil that who violates the order by accessing the platform through “subterfuges” such as virtual private networks (VPNs) is exposed to daily fines of some 9 thousand dollars.
Angry at the decision, Musk accused the judge of being an “evil dictator.”
The Supreme Federal Court (STF) said on Wednesday that it “still has no information” regarding the incident.
He Far-right former president Jair Bolsonaroone of the biggest critics of the veto and close to Musk, He was quick to publish it first time since August 30th in X.
“I congratulate everyone for the pressure that moved gears in defense of democracy in Brazil (…) ban the country’s largest social network “It was not about punishing a company, it was about punishing millions of Brazilians,” Bolsonaro said.
According to Rodriguez Perez, Cloudflare is used by “more than 24 million sites in the world” (…) including banks, media outlets, sites of the Brazilian government itself,” so its blocking cannot be easily decided.
We have to wait for further guidance on what to do and how to do it, because we cannot simply block something that could block an important or necessary service for the population.Basilio Rodriguez Perez.
In the early hours of Wednesday, as the app was automatically updated on millions of phones, Musk wrote on his X account: “Magic, when sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from technology,” in a message interpreted as a “provocation” by the Brazilian press.
X users expressed surprise at his return to Brazil
The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), responsible for implementing the blockade, said it was investigating “reported cases” of access.
Some users expressed their surprise at the return of the network.
“Magistrate Alexandre de Moraes: I did not use a VPN to enter here, I simply opened the app in a daily ritual of abstinence and it was working,” wrote one user on X.
The X update puts STF judges “in check,” according to Getulio Vargas Foundation telecommunications professor Alexandre Caramelo.
“It shows that They don’t understand what they are doing (…) they are unaware of what is technically possible“Caramelo told AFP.
Among the most talked about topics on the web are “He’s back” and “Cloudflare”.
The Court order to suspend the platform has fueled the debate on freedom of expression and the limits of social networks inside and outside the South American country.
The decision was applauded by the left led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
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Contacted by AFP, the government’s secretary for digital policies, Joao Brant, declined to comment.