On Friday, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of Elon Musk's social media company in the South American nation. Internet providers will be forced to block twitter (or "X," if you're the type of person who calls Delaware Avenue "Columbus Boulevard") just ahead of the Eagles' week one matchup with the Packers in Sao Paulo.
The Justice's feud with twitter is related to an intense right-wing/left-wing divide in Brazilian politics. Supporters of right-wing former Brazilian President Jair Balsanaro stormed government buildings in Brasilia, the nation's capital, in 2023 following Balsanaro's election loss.
Brazil's new administration, meanwhile, has railed against twitter's role in what Justice de Moraes called a "massive spread of disinformation, hate speech, and attacks on the democratic rule of law."
But the most important concern in all of this is its impact on The Birds.
With the biggest names in Eagles media heading to Sao Paulo, fans may not have access to the direct gameday reporting to which they've grown accustomed. And fans traveling to the game will likely be unable to share real-time videos or photos of their trip on twitter.
Reports indicate that twitter started going dark in Brazil early Saturday, as major internet operators began to comply with the ban. Anyone caught using a VPN to access the social media site is subject to a fine of approximately $9,000 per day.
In Brazil, we do not have X anymore since midnight.
I am tweeting this with VPN.
This tweet may cost me almost 10,000 USD according to the decision of tyrant @alexandre de Moraes, friends with @LulaOficial : every Brazilian that post on X from now on will be fined R$ 50,000…— Marcel van Hattem (@marcelvanhattem) August 31, 2024
There are workarounds. There is nothing stopping media members in Sao Paulo from, say, texting their Eagles observations to a colleague back in the U.S., who could then relay the info via twitter. Facebook and Instagram are unaffected. Same goes for Bluesky, Threads, Truth Social, and the other apps that nobody uses.
There's a chance things change before Sunday night's game. Technically, the ban is in effect because Musk closed twitter's office in Brazil. Brazilian law requires internet companies to maintain a legal representative in the country to respond to court rulings (by taking down certain content, for example). Musk could always reverse course and name a representative.
Alternatively, Justice de Moraes could back down from a decision that will surely be unpopular among tens of millions of Brazilian twitter users.
Until the situation is resolved, authorities urge Eagles fans to get their news strictly from OnPattison.com. For safety! We'll keep you up to date on all things Birds-related.
Timothee Chalamet enthusiasts, however, may be out of luck:
Timothee Updates will temporarily cease operations.
— Timothee Chalamet Updates (@timotheeupdates) August 30, 2024
Unfortunately, “X” will be banned in Brazil, and as all administrators are Brazilian, it will not be possible for us to continue with activities at this time. We, as Timothee fans, are very sad to be forced to close our portal…
