The Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers will face off tonight in their first game of the NFL season. But this season opener is a bit different. As the league seeks to expand into international markets, the two football teams have traveled to Brazil to make history by playing the first-ever regular season NFL game in South America.
For sports journalists and dedicated football fans who have traveled to São Paulo, the weekend presents an unexpected obstacle: X is now banned in Brazil.
A lot has changed on the app formerly known as Twitter since Elon Musk bought it in 2022. But what has remained constant is that it is indispensable to sports fans. Unlike Instagram, TikTok or other popular social media apps, the microblogging platform offers the perfect format to dash off quick, real-time reactions to major plays, referee calls and coaching decisions. The same is true for sports journalists, who regularly post updates on X during games. These reporters are on the ground and have direct channels to team officials, so their accounts are especially popular for sports fans during big games.
This week, we have @Jeff_McLane, @EJSmith94, @ByDavidMurphy and @ReinerOlivia in Brazil covering the Eagles' opener. Due to the ban on X in the country, posts from their accounts are being relayed back here and posted on their behalves.
— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) September 5, 2024
The Philadelphia Inquirer sent four sports reporters to Brazil to cover the game, but in an act of caution, posted on X to clarify that these journalists are not violating Brazilian law.
“Due to the ban on X in the country, posts from their accounts are being relayed back here and posted on their behalves,” the newspaper posted on X.
Btw, we’re controlling Zach’s twitter account while he’s in Brazil. He might miss twitter more than he misses us! pic.twitter.com/xX5vIS5PEM
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) September 4, 2024
Zach Berman, a reporter for PHLY, has been tweeting from Brazil, much to fans’ confusion. Then, his wife and children posted a selfie revealing that they are the ones making these posts. Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Green Bay Packers beat reporter, Matt Schneidman, has eschewed X altogether, directing his followers to his Instagram.
The decision to ban X in Brazil has been contentious. The dispute dates back to April, when Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes demanded that X remove seven right-wing accounts posting misinformation in support of former president Jair Bolsonaro. But Musk did not comply with the takedown requests, even though he’s complied with similar takedown requests from governments in India and Turkey.
By August, X said that Moraes had threatened the company’s Brazil legal representative with arrest if X did not comply with the removal requests. So, X shut down corporate operations in Brazil, and in response, the Brazilian court ordered an immediate countrywide ban on X.
Even outside of sports, online fandoms tend to feature large Brazilian populations — it’s Brazilian users behind some of X’s biggest fan accounts for artists like Bruno Mars, Miley Cyrus and Chappell Roan. Now, as the Eagles and Packers prepare to face off in São Paulo, the cultural impact of the ban has only become more obvious.
