In Brazil, the social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, has been banned by a court order. After the ban, a huge increase in VPN usage was observed, but there are heavy fines waiting for users. Following the developments that have officially exploded VPN usage in the country, daily fines are being given for VPN usage.

Brazil fines VPN users $9,000!

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the X platform to cease operations in Brazil, citing Musk’s refusal to comply with court requests to remove content related to far-right groups.

Moraes said the X platform will remain banned until it appoints a legal representative in the country and responds to government requests to close its accounts. He also announced that individuals or companies that try to bypass the ban using the app will be fined 50,000 reais (about $8,900) per day. That’s more than the average Brazilian’s annual income, according to the New York Times.

Despite these heavy penalties, there has been an increase of up to 1,600 percent in VPN usage. According to an analysis conducted by a site called VPNMentor, it has been revealed that Brazilians are turning to VPN use in order to protect their privacy.

Apps like Bluesky and Threads, which are alternatives to the X platform, have also seen huge increases in user numbers. Bluesky has gained over 500,000 new users in recent days, and the number of logins on the platform has reached all-time highs.

“I used VPNs a lot to continue accessing news sites and social networks in authoritarian countries like China. I never thought that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. This is truly dystopian ,” Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at Rio de Janeiro State University, wrote on X before the ban went into effect .