Glenn Greenwald: Why Did Brazil Ban X?

Why is the Brazilian government afraid of X?

Judge Alexandre de Moraes has blocked the site formerly known as Twitter in Brazil, where an estimated 40 million people access the site each month. Circumventing the ban on X with a VPN could get you fined about $9,000 a day, around the average per capita income in Brazil. It happened after Musk reinstated accounts that the Brazilian state had accused of being part of "digital militias" undermining Brazil's democracy.

X's owner Elon Musk has accused the judge of "repeatedly and brazenly" betraying Brazil's constitution, called for his impeachment, and described him as "Brazil's Darth Vader."

The judge has accused Musk of "criminal instrumentalization" of the X platform and frozen the assets of Musk's satellite internet company Starlink in the country.

Joining us today from Brazil to talk about all this, and the intensifying global crackdown on online speech, is Glenn Greenwald. His show System Update airs every weeknight at 7 p.m. ET on Rumble. An archive of all his latest work is available on his Substack. 

Sources referenced in the conversation:

1. Elon Musk on X casting shame on Judge de Moraes
2. 2022 Brazilian election results—Resultados – TSE
3. Judge de Moraes' social media order—https://t.co/YjD9gK3ck0
4. Encryption in France—ATICA European Association of Trade + Investment Controls and Compliance Attorneys
5. Thierry Breton letter to Elon Musk ahead of of Aug. 2024 X livestream with Trump: https://x.com/ThierryBreton/status/1823033048109367549
6. "What Really Happened in Venezuela's Election?" Just Asking Questions 

Chapters:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:50 How Brazil's 2022 election shapes things today
• 11:48 Does Brazil have any separation of powers?
• 16:50 Is Glenn Greenwald fleeing Brazil?
• 19:54 de Moraes is breaking Brazilian law
• 26:34 Brazil is persecuting Starlink, too
• 31:09 Brazil's restrictions on VPNs
• 34:27 Venezuela's Maduro, leftists, and free speech
• 37:45 How should democracy's handle fraud?
• 42:45 The EU mimics Brazil's speech restrictions
• 47:40 France's arrest of Telegram CEO, Pavel Durov
• 52:26 Defending Section 230 and encryption
• 1:02:14 What is motivating these global crackdowns?

Abbreviated Transcript:

Zach Weissmueller: Why is the Brazilian government afraid of X.com, Just Asking Questions. I'm Weissmueller, senior producer for Reason, joined by my co-host, Wolfe, Reason associate editor and author of The Reason Roundup. Hey Liz.

Liz Wolfe: Hey, Zach.

Weissmueller: Judge Alexandre de Moraes has blocked X, formerly known as Twitter, in Brazil, where an estimated 40 million people access the site each month. Circumventing the ban with a virtual private network (VPN) could get you fined about $9,000 dollars a day, which is around the average annual income per capita in Brazil. It happened after X's owner Elon Musk reinstated accounts that the Brazilian state has accus