Elon Musk’s X started to go dark in Brazil at the order of the top court as Latin America’s largest nation became the latest front in a global fight over the regulation of free speech on the internet.
As the site went down, politicians hurried to share reactions to judicial efforts to police content before they lost access. Celebrities fired off posts directing fans to other networks, while experts in internet law opined — including in posts on the fading X — on the long-term ramifications.
Many of X’s 20 million users in Brazil, the world’s fifth-most-online nation, were left to scour rival platforms after the Supreme Court ordered the immediate suspension late Friday because the billionaire refused to name a legal representative for the social network in the country.
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