X circumvents access block in Brazil

Social media platform X, has been inaccessible in Brazil since late August due to disputes. The platform has over 20 million active users in the country.

Experts examining X’s IP addresses noted that the platform appears to have started redirecting traffic through Cloudflare servers, acting as an intermediary between users and X’s servers. Pedro Diogenes, Director of Latin America at cybersecurity firm CLM, explained that Cloudflare is functioning as a “digital shield” for X’s servers, filtering traffic and obscuring the original IP addresses.

Following these developments, some users in Brazil have regained access to X. However, Elon Musk has yet to comment on the partial lifting of the access ban.

The access restriction began after Brazil’s Supreme Court requested data from X and sought to block certain accounts as part of an investigation into former President Jair Bolsonaro’s alleged involvement in a coup attempt. When X failed to appoint a legal representative in Brazil within the given 24-hour deadline, the court imposed the access ban on August 31, stating that access would remain restricted until a representative was appointed and fines were paid.

Musk criticized the decision, stating that freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy and accused an unelected judge of undermining it for political reasons.