Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, has agreed to block access to X—formerly Twitter— in Brazil. This decision follows a legal order from Brazil’s top court, which resulted in Starlink’s assets being frozen when Musk initially resisted. Court Orders Lead to Frozen Assets Brazil’s Supreme Court, under Justice Alexandre de Moraes, ordered the shutdown of Elon Musk’s X in Brazil as part of his ongoing campaign to curb disinformation. According to Bloomberg, when X failed to comply with previous orders and pay associated fines, the court extended its crackdown to
On Friday, Brazil’s top court ordered the immediate suspension of X—formerly Twitter—in the country following a months-long feud with owner Elon Musk. Now, rival platforms are benefiting. Bluesky Sees Surge in Sign-Ups Bluesky, which fully opened to the public in February 2023, is seeing massive surge in users, reportedly gained one million new users in just three days. The decentralized social app started off as a project by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in 2019 when he was Twitter’s CEO. It has since become an independent public benefit corporation, with Twitter founder
Social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, has announced the immediate closure of its office in Brazil. This decision comes amid an intensifying legal conflict with Brazil’s Supreme Court, specifically targeting Justice Alexandre de Moraes, according to Reuters. The platform, owned by Elon Musk, is embroiled in a dispute over alleged censorship orders that threaten both freedom of expression and the safety of its employees. Legal Battle and Alleged Censorship The closure of X’s Brazilian office follows a secret order issued by Justice de Moraes, demanding the removal of
Brazil’s government is hiring OpenAI to speed up the screening and analysis of thousands of lawsuits using AI to avoid costly court losses, according to Reuters. Court-ordered debt payments have consumed a growing share of Brazil’s federal budget. Their government estimated it would spend 70.7 billion reais ($13.2 billion) next year on judicial decisions it can no longer appeal. That figure does not include small-value claims, meaning the combined account of over 100 billion reais represents a sharp increase from 37.3 billion reais in 2015. How Will It Work? The
Since early May, the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul has experienced devastating floods due to torrential rain which also lead to AI-generated misinformation. At one point, the region saw four months’ worth of rainfall in just three days. This catastrophe has left over half a million people displaced and much of the state capital still submerged weeks later. It is the worst flooding disaster in Brazil’s history, with the ongoing rainy season likely prolonging the situation. AI-Generated Misinformation Spreads Amid Crisis Amid the chaos, misinformation has flourished with
IBM employees in Brazil are challenging the tech company’s classification of them as sales workers rather than tech workers, according to Rest of World. Legal Battle for Recognition A legal battle in Minas Gerais set a precedent in 2018 when a regional court ruled in favor of the IT workers’ union. The court ordered IBM to acknowledge the union as the legal representative of its employees in the state, recognizing them not as sales personnel but as tech workers. This changed the benefits these employees could access, including a reduced workweek
Brazil-based startup, Gen-t, is an organization at the forefront of medical evolution. The startup, founded by Lygia da Veiga Pereira in 2021, is a company built on advancing science and medical technology. Gen-t’s mission is to diversify global genomic data to help fasten medical breakthroughs and make novel discoveries based on different phenotypes. Despite being new, the organization has managed to raise $2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Eduardo Mufarej. “The field keeps saying that we need diversity, but most of the diversity in the world is in countries with
Since its launch in 2009, WhatsApp has intensified instant messaging and made communicating easier for families, friends, and companies. But in most recent years, particularly during the pandemic, it’s being used for much more. Teachers in Africa took advantage of the platform during the lockdowns when schools were shut. Data from a study conducted by Sabinet analyzed a WhatsApp group of 24 economics teachers and three lead teachers (heads of departments) from 15 schools in Kwazulu-Natal province, South Africa and a focus group interview was thematically analyzed to present findings.
Since its launch, AfroSaúde has helped 2,000 patients to find and book consultations with nearly 1,000 black professionals in Brazil, including medical practitioners, dentists, and therapists. Payment for the consultations is made through the AfroSaúde platform, which takes a commission. Igor Leo Rocha, a journalist, who suffers from folliculitis, a bacterial condition whereby hair grows back into the skin when it is cut, causing painful inflammation, launched the platform in 2019 with his partner Arthur Lima. Their reasons? Rocha told the FT that many doctors he saw prescribed “strong medication
