Countries that ban social network X

La red social X, Brazil banned on Saturday She has been banned in several countries, many of which are ruled by authoritarian regimes, as she has been accused of spreading fake news.

Many countries have temporarily blocked the network, which has been effective in spreading information about political protests, such as Egypt during the Arab Spring in 2011, Turkey in 2014 and 2023, and Uzbekistan around the 2021 presidential election.

China

Twitter (its former name) Chinese have learned to live without it and use Weibo and WeChat extensively.

Iran

A wave of protests following the disputed results of the June 2009 presidential election led to a Twitter ban that remains in place 15 years later. However, the app has spread its protest movements abroad, such as the one against the repression of women in late 2022.

Turkmenistan

The deeply isolated Central Asian country began blocking Twitter in the early 2010s, along with many other foreign services and websites. Internet browsing is provided exclusively by state-owned company Turkmentel and is monitored by the authorities.

North Korea

North Korea opened a Twitter account in 2010 to reach out to foreigners interested in the country, before blocking the app, along with Facebook, YouTube, and gambling and pornography sites in April 2016. Aside from a handful of government sites, access to the internet is tightly controlled by the self-sufficient regime, which reserves it to a handful of responsible parties.

Myanmar

Twitter has been inaccessible since February 2021, banned in response to protests against the military coup that overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, the military junta in power has maintained a tight grip on the internet.

Russia

Moscow began restricting access to Twitter in 2021 by slowing it down, denouncing the spread of “illegal content.” Access was officially blocked in March 2022, after Russian troops began invading Ukraine. However, many Russians continue to use X, using VPN services that allow them to circumvent the ban.

Pakistan

Platform X has extensively reported on fraud allegations against the opposition and jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Venezuela

President Nicolas Maduro, who was re-elected in July despite strong suspicions of fraud, ordered the suspension of X for ten days on August 9, as violent protests broke out across the country. Although the deadline has expired, the ban remains in place.

Brazil

The judicial system blocked X, specifically Alexandre de Moraes, a judge at the Federal Supreme Court, for reactivating an account suspended by a Brazilian court order. Users who access the platform through a VPN face a fine of 50,000 reais (about $8,900) per day.