Glenn Greenwald: Why Did Brazil Ban X?

Reason Podcasts

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: Elon Musk on X casting shame on Judge de Moraes 2022 Brazilian election results - Resultados – TSE Judge de Moraes' social media order - https://t.co/YjD9gK3ck0 Encryption in France - ATICA European Association of Trade + Investment Controls and Compliance Attorneys Thierry Breton letter to Elon Musk ahead of of Aug. 2024 X livestream with Trump: https://x.com/ThierryBreton/status/1823033048109367549 "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?