X Restored Temporarily in Brazil After Technical Update:

Key Takeaways

X briefly became accessible in Brazil due to a switch to Cloudflare.

The company says this was unintentional and is working with the Brazilian government to resolve the issue.

Concerns have been raised that the switch could affect other services in the country.

Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, made a surprise return in Brazil on Wednesday, despite an ongoing ban by the country’s Supreme Court. Many Brazilian users suddenly found themselves able to access X without using a VPN—a ban workaround they’d been relying on since August 31.

What caused this unexpected access? A recent server infrastructure update. X had switched to using Cloudflare as its cloud provider, and this change accidentally restored access to some users, according to the company. It wasn’t part of a bigger plan to defy the ban but rather an unintended consequence of the technical update.

X has been in hot water with Brazil’s government ever since it failed to comply with local laws, particularly by not appointing a legal representative. Tensions between Elon Musk and Brazil’s judiciary, especially Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, have been growing. Justice de Moraes has been cracking down on digital misinformation, and X's noncompliance led to the platform being shut down in the country.

Technical Mishap or Intentional Move?

While X insists the temporary access was a mistake, not everyone is convinced. The Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Providers (ABRINT) voiced their doubts. They believe that switching to Cloudflare, which uses dynamic IP addresses, makes it harder to block X effectively. These dynamic IPs are shared with other services, including banking platforms, making it more complicated to enforce a complete block without disrupting other essential services.

For now, it seems the access was short-lived, but the situation highlights the ongoing tug-of-war between X and Brazil’s legal system. The company says it's working on finding common ground with Brazilian authorities to restore its services in a way that respects local regulations.