Author: Tariq Choucair, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology

Authorities in Brazil, the country with the world’s fifth largest number of internet users, have banned the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). The ban came into effect over the weekend. It followed a long-running battle between Elon Musk, the owner of X, and Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes who had previously ordered the social media platform to block far-right users. The ban has outraged Musk. In the wake of it, he has claimed de Moraes is a “fake judge” and that the “the oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the…