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With people in Brazil cut off from Elon Musk’s popular social media platform X, the use of virtual private networks (VPN) in the country has soared.
VPN usage in Brazil surged 1,600% following the blocking of the social media platform in the country, where it has 21 million users, according to review site VpnMentor.
Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld a ban on X in the country Monday, with justices accusing Musk of consistently ignoring court orders and acting as if the company was above the law. Meanwhile, the Tesla TSLA+3.06% and SpaceX CEO has called the court’s actions illegal.
Following the decision, Musk shared a post about VPN use, writing that it’s “[s]uper easy to use a VPN if a website is restricted in your location.” Under the Brazilian ban, however, using a VPN carries with it a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900).
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Musk have been feuding since April, when the justice announced he would launch an investigation into the billionaire for obstruction of justice after Musk said he would defy a court order blocking some accounts on X. Musk’s company has claimed that Moraes threatened to arrest one of its legal representatives in Brazil if it didn’t comply.
As part of the dispute, Moraes ordered that the assets of a “de facto economic group” under Musk’s control be frozen to guarantee X pays fines issued by Brazil’s courts, according to G1. Starlink, which is a subsidiary of Musk’s aerospace firm SpaceX and sells satellite internet services in Brazil, has confirmed that its assets have been frozen — a move that Musk has threatened legal action against.
“This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied — unconstitutionally — against X,” Starlink wrote in a post on X. “We intend to address the matter legally,” the company added, saying that it was not afforded due process under Brazilian laws.
In a television interview following the court’s initial decision to ban X Friday, Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency president, Carlos Manuel Baigorri, said the country’s more than 20,000 broadband internet providers would block the social media platform over the weekend.
Baigorri also reportedly said Justice Moraes had initially called on Apple AAPL+0.75% and Google GOOGL+1.60% to “implement technological barriers to prevent the use of the X app by users of the iOS and Android systems” and block the use of VPNs, The Guardian reported.
— Will Gavin contributed to this article.