Brazil’s ban on X silences celebrity fan accounts

X is no longer available in Brazil.

Brazil’s ban on X has hit the celebrity stan community.

X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, was blocked in Brazil last week following an order from Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The ban is the result of a feud between X owner Elon Musk and the judge over content moderation concerns and free speech. Musk has refused to comply with de Moraes’ orders to remove content related to far-right groups.

As a result, more than 20 million users have lost access to the platform —including a host of celebrity fan accounts.

X accounts started by fans of Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, and Cardi B flooded the platform with farewell posts last week, with many using the hashtag #MyLastTweet.

The digital purge even caught the attention of some celebs, with rapper Cardi B posting: “Wait, a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold up!!”

Wait a lot of my fan pages are Brazilian!!! Come back hold

up!! pic.twitter.com/DNWRqQbnQM

— Cardi B (@iamcardib) August 30, 2024

One fan account, which shares general updates about celebrities under the handle @21metgala, announced the ban would force them to cease operations temporarily.

“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 celebrity fans, are very sad to be forced to close our account for a period of time,” they said in a post last week, which also attracted a response from Cardi B.

The account has more than 175,000 followers and is still sharing posts.

Brazil has been known for its passionate approach to celebrity fandom.

Brazil-based social media users famously sparked the viral “Come to Brazil” meme after they flooded celebrity posts with requests that they visit their home country.

While some Brazilian X users appear to have migrated to rival platform Bluesky, the site still lacks fan-friendly features such as trending topics and some official celebrity accounts.

Others have found ways to fight back against the ban. Despite the threat of hefty fines, demand for VPNs has surged in Brazil since access to X was blocked.

While it’s still possible access to X may be reinstated after the political feud is settled, many Brazil-based fan accounts may be out of action for the foreseeable future.

X responded to a request for comment from B-17 with a link to a post from its global government affairs account that concluded: “To our users in Brazil and around the world, X remains committed to protecting your freedom of speech.”