Musk vs. Brazil: The Digital Chess Move

Elon Musk has made another surprising move in the digital cat-and-mouse game with Brazilian authorities. On Tuesday, his social network X became accessible again to many users in Brazil after a three-week suspension by the Supreme Court of Brazil. The reason for this unexpected turn lies in a technical adjustment that enabled the platform to bypass the digital barriers imposed by Brazilian internet providers. The president of the Brazilian telecommunications authority Anatel confirmed this maneuver and announced that his agency is now evaluating how the platform can be blocked again. This development underscores that Musk is not backing down in Brazil and that this dispute can be seen as a significant test of strength between national sovereignty and the boundless power of internet companies. The background of the conflict lies in X's refusal to remove certain accounts, prompting the company to close its offices in Brazil to avoid consequences. Days later, Starlink, another company under Musk's control, announced it would deliver X directly from space to Brazilian users. However, after a threat of license revocation, Starlink conceded. Technical experts explain that X is currently relying on Cloudflare, a major internet infrastructure provider from San Francisco, to deliver its site content in Brazil. Cloudflare routes the traffic of millions of websites; blocking it would have profound impacts on internet usage in Brazil. "You can't just block Cloudflare without blocking half of the internet with it," explained Basílio Perez, president of Abrint, the association of Brazilian internet providers. According to Perez, Cloudflare supports over 24 million websites, including those of the Brazilian government and banks. He described the search for a new method to block X in Brazil as an extremely complex task. Thiago Ayub, technology director at Sage Networks, expressed skepticism: "In technology, almost anything is possible, but there are also the factors of time and budget." A solution might be conceivable but perhaps not feasible. Various internet providers are already heatedly debating the next steps. There is no consensus, and the legal departments of the providers are struggling to make a decision. Brazilian internet providers are now awaiting instructions from regulatory authorities. X and the Supreme Court of Brazil have yet to comment on the latest developments. A source at Cloudflare confirmed that X recently switched to the company's services but emphasized that Cloudflare did not actively assist in circumventing the blockade. It remains unclear how many Brazilians have regained access to X, but many are already celebrating the platform's return.