The president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) published in your profile on Threads this Sunday (September 1, 2024) a question about what your followers think of the technology company Meta’s social network. The platform became widely accessed in Brazil after the suspension of X (formerly Twitter) by order of STF (Supreme Federal Court) minister Alexandre de Moraes.
Lula joined Threads in July 2023, 2 days after the platform’s official launch in Brazil. The president, however, has more followers on X – 9.1 million people. On Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta network, he has 2.5 million.
Since Moraes ordered the suspension of X in Brazil, on Friday (August 30, 2024), Lula has not made any publications on the network. Unlike the PT, which has been publishing posts on the platform. The party informed the Poder360 that the content had already been scheduled for publication via Tweetdeck (a platform designed to control X accounts) before Moraes’ decision.
One day before Moraes’ decision, on Thursday (August 29, 2024), the president published on X a list of his profiles on other social networks, such as Threads, Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok.
X BLOCKING
Moraes ordered the removal of X after the platform failed to comply with his order. On Wednesday (August 28), he demanded that it present, within 24 hours, a legal representative in Brazil.
In his decision on Friday (August 30), the minister said that this was not the first time that Elon Musk, owner of X, had disregarded court orders. He also stated that, on other occasions, the businessman had already demonstrated “its total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the Judiciary, positioning itself as a true supranational entity and immune to the legislation of each country”.
“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, the incitement to crime, the public threat of disobedience to court orders and the future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespected Brazil’s sovereignty and reinforce the connection between the willful criminal instrumentalization of social networks and the illicit practices investigated by the various inquiries”states in the document. Read the full of Moraes’ decision (PDF – 374 kB).
The platform then gradually began to go offline in the early hours of this Saturday, but some users are still able to access it.
VPN USE
After criticism, Moraes backed down from his decision to have the Apple Store and Google Play Store remove VPN apps from their stores.
According to Moraes, the reversal was taken to “avoid unnecessary and reversible inconvenience to third parties”considering the precautionary nature of the decision and the possibility of voluntary compliance by X or its owner, Elon Musk. Read herefull of the decision (PDF – 113 kB).
However, the minister maintained the daily fine of R$50,000 for anyone who uses “technological subterfuges”, like VPN, to access X.
On Saturday (31.Aug), the OAB (Brazilian Bar Association) asked the Supreme Court to review the fine for those who use VPN in Brazil. Here is the full (PDF – 1 MB).
“The application of a fine or any other sanction in a generic and abstract manner is an unreasonable and disproportionate measure, with the potential to affect an undetermined number of people”he states in the petition.
Read more about Moraes X Musk:
- Moraes orders X to be taken offline in Brazil
- Opposition criticizes Moraes’ decision to suspend X: “Censorship”
- Moraes vetoes the use of VPN to access X with a daily fine of R$50,000
- Moraes’ decision on VPN is controversial and complex in practice
- Moraes backtracks on VPN use in Brazil
- X goes offline in Brazil
- Musk encourages the use of VPN to access X in Brazil
- Find out which countries have blocked access to X
- Moraes’ decision to suspend X becomes a meme on social media
#Lula #Threads
