Brazil Threatens Discord Ban After Platform Linked to Foiled Lady Gaga Concert Attack
Authorities crack down on encrypted comms—because nothing says ’national security’ like blaming an app for human chaos.
Meanwhile, Wall Street still can’t decide if privacy tech is a ’terrorism risk’ or the next trillion-dollar market opportunity.
Brazil’s history of banning social media platforms
This isn’t Brazil’s first rodeo with social media bans. Just last year, the country temporarily kicked X off its digital turf in a high-profile showdown with Elon Musk.
X went dark across Brazil from August 30 to October 8, 2024, after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered its suspension. The ban came after X refused to appoint a legal representative and failed to comply with court orders to remove accounts spreading disinformation—similar to what is happening today with Discord, according to the legislators’ claims.
An estimated 20 to 40 million Brazilian users lost access until X finally paid its fines and met the court’s demands. The country is the seventh-largest in the world, by population.
The X ban was a big contributor to Bluesky’s rise to fame, with over a million users signing up to the platform in three days.
Telegram has faced the ban hammer twice in recent years. In March 2022, the Brazilian Supreme Court blocked the messaging app for failing to remove accounts linked to disinformation, particularly those supporting former President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of elections. The ban was enforced for days until Telegram appointed a legal representative and took steps to comply.
The app got blocked again in April 2023 when a federal judge ordered Telegram’s suspension for refusing to hand over user data tied to neo-Nazi chat groups involved in school violence investigations. That ban was also short-lived, and was lifted after Telegram made concessions in the face of daily fines.
Both X and Telegram currently operate in Brazil, having navigated their way back into the country’s good graces—at least for now.
No ban has been implemented on Discord as of yet. Brazilian crypto users and gamers, who heavily rely on Discord for community engagement, are already discussing alternatives and the legitimacy of these actions.
