Elon Musk's X users in Brazil 'unintentionally' regain access after server change despite ban

Several users in Brazil were once again able to access X on Wednesday, even though the social media platform remains banned by the country's judiciary since last month.

Brazilian users flocked to the platform after X, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, modified how its servers were accessed within the country.

X’s reactivation in Brazil was not intentional, an X spokesperson clarified in a statement released later on Wednesday.

“To continue providing optimal service to our users, we changed network providers. This change resulted in an inadvertent and temporary service restoration to Brazilian users.”

“While we expect the platform to be inaccessible again in Brazil soon, we continue efforts to work with the Brazilian government to return very soon for the people of Brazil,” an X spokesperson said in a statement.

The company’s explanation caught some by surprise.

"Everything that happened during the day led us to believe that it was on purpose," said Basílio Rodriguez Pérez, advisor to ABRINT, the country's main trade group for Internet Service Providers (ISP).

According to ABRINT, X had switched to servers managed by Cloudflare, and it seemed to be using dynamic internet protocols (IPs) that change frequently, which Pérez believed suggested intentional access to Brazilian users. Previously, the system had used specific IPs that were easier to block.

Basílio Rodriguez Pérez, ABRINT advisor, said that these dynamic IPs might also be tied to essential services in Brazil.

"Many of these IPs are shared with other legitimate services, such as banks and large internet platforms, making it impossible to block an IP without affecting other services."

This includes PIX, a service used by millions of Brazilians for digital payments.
Despite the server switch, some specialists argued that Cloudflare could still assist Brazil in enforcing the ban.

“Actually, I think the ban would be even more effective if Cloudflare really cooperates with the government,” said Felipe Autran, a constitutional lawyer based in Brasilia.

“I think they will, since they are such a huge provider for many Brazilian enterprises and also the government.”