BRASILIA: Brazilians using VPNs to access Elon Musk’s social media platform X, which has been banned in the country, can still be fined, contradicts to online claims suggesting that the Supreme Court had reversed a previous order imposing such fines.
Brazil’s telecommunications regulator blocked X on August 30 after the platform failed to appoint a legal representative in Brazil and did not meet a compliance deadline set by the courts. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that individuals accessing X through VPNs could face fines of up to 50,000 reais ($8,943.74) per day.
On September 2, the First Chamber Justices unanimously supported Moraes’ ruling. Social media posts from September 2 incorrectly claimed that Moraes had reversed this order. A post read: “BREAKING: Supreme Court will no longer enforce fines on Brazilians who access X via VPN. Brazilians are safe to access and use X via a VPN. Dictator Moraes blinked.” Another post stated: “Victory for Free Speech! Brazil will no longer fine anyone using a VPN to access X. Spread the word to everyone across Brazil.”
However, as of September 6, the order imposing fines for accessing X via VPN remains in effect. Although Moraes initially also required Google and Apple to remove VPN apps from their stores, this part of the order was later dropped, while the fine for circumventing the X ban remains.
The Supreme Court has not commented on the situation. The official orders, including those to suspend X and remove VPN apps, can be viewed in Portuguese on the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court’s website.
VERDICT: False. As of September 6, the Supreme Court of Brazil has not overturned the order fining people who use VPNs to access the banned platform X.
