Musk's X back up in Brazil thanks to Cloudflare, but will it last?

Elon Musk’s X is back up for a majority of users in Brazil on Wednesday after a Cloudflare network update circumvented Brazil’s Supreme Court order to block the social media platform.

The Musk-owned messaging platform is said to have surreptitiously placed itself behind Cloudflare's third-party cloud network, thereby allowing Brazilian users to access the social media platform by essentially hiding X's server IP addresses.

This means users in the South American nation can access X even without the use of a virtual private network (VPN), the Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Providers ABRINT pointed out. VPN use in Brazil has been at an all-time high since access to X was blocked by the courts earlier this month.

News of the workaround had many users worldwide and in Brazil praising the companies on the X platform.

"Back on X in Brazil! Thanks @elonmusk & @Cloudflare for defending free speech," one user posted.

Back on X in Brazil!

Thanks @elonmusk & @Cloudflare for defending free speech.

undefined Mateus Loubach (@mateusloubach_) September 18, 2024

Cloudflare, a San Francisco-based cybersecurity firm, is used by millions of companies around the world for network protection and to ensure seamless network traffic.

The company uses what is called an 'IP Anycast' or 'Anycast routing,' which, according to Cloudflare, “allows multiple physical destination servers to be logically identified by a single IP address.”

Although Musk and X have not publicly addressed the move, Basilio Perez, a board member at ABRINT, told Reuters on Wednesday they believed the change was “intentional.”

"X started working with new software, which is no longer using the social network's IPs, but rather Cloudflare's," Perez was quoted on Wednesday.

“Why would X use a third-party service that ends up being slower than its own?” Perez questioned.

Another X user from Brazil posted, mentioning Cloudflare's co-founder and CEO by name, "X works fine here in Brazil. Thanks @elonmusk and Mr Matthew Prince @Cloudflare."

X works fine here in Brazil.
Thanks @elonmusk and Mr Matthew Prince @Cloudflare https://t.co/XCCW5ONPcH

undefined JOELE FALOU (@joeleale) September 18, 2024

ABRINT said it was unclear how many Brazilians now have restored access to both the blocked mobile and desktop versions of X.

It's estimated that more than 23 million Brazilian people use X, representing a huge portion of X’s social media market.

X was banned on September 1st by the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes over various issues, including free speech, misinformation on the platform, and reinstating far-right accounts.

The months-long feud between Morales and X CEO Elon Musk came to a head after the social media platform missed a court-imposed deadline to name a legal representative in Brazil.

Still, X’s rerouting through Cloudflare could turn out to be a permanent solution for the X users in Brazil, as many of the nation's banks and government agencies are said to also use the cloud-based service for cybersecurity protections, another X user noted.

El Musk placed X in Brazil behind CloudFlare. Simple as that, its IP keeps changing, and the government is now unable to block it. Moreover, the government itself and all banks use that service to prevent cyber attacks. So that is the end of the X saga in Brazil.

Anyone can use… pic.twitter.com/EBWf7z7VVg

undefined Suicide bomber of capitalism (@dmlvianna) September 18, 2024

Anatel, Brazil’s national telecommunications agency, is responsible for enforcing the court ruling.

Perez said that any revised order from Anatel will need to be extremely specific because blocking cloud access is complex and may jeopardize government agencies and financial services providers.

According to a person familiar with the matter who spoke with Reuters, Anatel has identified the problem and is working to notify content delivery network providers and telecom companies to re-block access to X in Brazil.

It's unclear how long it would take for the providers to comply with a revised order.