With the ban on X, which took effect on Saturday, Brazil joins a group of countries that have taken similar steps against social networks, most of them run by authoritarian regimes.
In addition to permanent bans, some countries have temporarily restricted access to X (formerly Twitter), which is often used by political dissidents to communicate.
These include Egypt during the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, Turkey in 2014 and 2023, and Uzbekistan during its presidential elections in 2021.
Here is a list of some others.
China
Beijing banned Twitter in June 2009 — before it gained prominence in Western media and politics in the 2010s.
The blockade came two days before the 20th anniversary of the government’s crushing of pro-democracy protests in the capital’s Tiananmen Square.
Since then, many Chinese have turned to homegrown alternatives such as Weibo and WeChat.
Iran
Tehran also blocked Twitter in 2009, when a wave of protests followed June’s presidential election.
Nevertheless, the network has since been used to relay information about dissident movements to the outside world, including demonstrations against the suppression of women’s rights in Iran since late 2022.
Turkmenistan
The isolated Central Asian country of Turkmenistan blocked Twitter along with many other foreign online services and websites in early 2010.
Authorities in Ashgabat closely monitor citizens’ use of the Internet, which is provided through the state-run monopoly operator Turkmen Telecom.
North Korea
Pyongyang opened its own Twitter account in 2010 to attract foreigners interested in the country.
But since April 2016, this application has been blocked along with Facebook, YouTube and gambling and pornography websites.
In this isolated regime, access to the internet is strictly monitored by the government, apart from a few government websites, and access is restricted to a few high-ranking officials.
myanmar
X has been blocked since February 2021, when authorities targeted the app for its use by opponents of the military coup that overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Since then, the military regime has maintained a tight grip on internet access in Myanmar.
Russia
Access to Twitter has been blocked since 2021 by Moscow, which complained that the site was allowing users to spread “illegal content”.
A formal ban was imposed in March 2022, just after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Many Russian users continue to connect to X via VPN services which allow them to evade the block.
Pakistan
Exports have been banned since the parliamentary elections in February this year.
The military-backed Pakistan government says the blockade is for security reasons.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan – who is now in jail – faced widespread allegations of fraud against his opposition party through this platform.
Venezuela
Nicolás Maduro, who was declared the winner of July’s presidential election despite serious suspicions of fraud, ordered access to X suspended for 10 days on 9 August, as security forces violently suppressed nationwide protests.
This blockade continued even after the 10-day period had ended.
brazil
The ban on exports in the country came from the judiciary through Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
He highlighted the reactivation of accounts that had been ordered suspended by Brazilian courts.
Users who connect to X via VPN will face a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) per day.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
