Brazil's X ban drives outraged Bolsonaro supporters to rally for 'free speech'

SAO PAULO (AP) — Thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro flooded Sao Paulo’s main boulevard for an Independence Day rally Saturday, buoyed by the government's blocking of tech billionaire Elon Musk's X platform, a ban they say is proof of their political persecution.

A few thousand demonstrators, clad in the yellow-and-green colors of Brazil's flag, poured onto Av. Paulista. References to the ban on X and images of Musk abounded.

“Thank you for defending our freedom,” read one banner praising the tech entrepreneur.

Saturday’s march was seen as a test of Bolsonaro’s capacity to mobilize turnout ahead of the October municipal elections, even though Brazil's electoral court has barred him from running for office until 2030. It's also something of a referendum on X, whose suspension has raised eyebrows even among some of Bolsonaro's opponents all the while stoking the flames of Brazil's deep-seated political polarization.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X’s nationwide ban on Aug. 30 after months of feuding with Musk over the limits of free speech. The powerful judge has spearheaded efforts to ban far-right users from spreading misinformation on social media, and he ramped up his clampdown after die-hard Bolsonaro supporters ransacked Congress and the presidential palace on Jan. 8, 2023, in an attempt to overturn Bolsonaro's defeat in the presidential election.

On Saturday, Bolsonaro called Moraes a “dictator” and called on Brazil's Senate to impeach the judge. He also repeated the false claim that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had colluded with the judiciary to steal the 2022 election.

“They want to censor the truth, so the people don't know the truth,” Bolsonaro, with a raspy voice from a virus that sent him to the hospital earlier in the day, told the crowd.

Such comments are red meat to Bolsonaro’s supporters, who have lauded Musk's defiance of Brazil's judiciary.

“Elon Musk has been a warrior for freedom of speech,” staunch Bolsonaro ally and lawmaker Bia Kicis said in an interview. “The right is being oppressed, massacred, because the left doesn’t want the right to exist.”

“Our liberties are in danger, we need to make our voices heard. De Moraes is a tyrant, he should be impeached, and people on the streets is the only thing that will convince politicians to do it,” added retiree Amaro Santos as he walked down the thoroughfare Saturday,

Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has also urged Brazilians to turn out in droves for the rally, resharing someone else's post claiming that X’s ban had awakened people “to the fact that freedom isn’t free and needs to be fought for.” He's also created an X account, named for the controversial jurist, to publish sealed court orders directing X to shut down accounts deemed unlawful.

But De Moraes' decision to ban X was far from arbitrary, having been upheld by fellow Supreme Court justices. And while expression, online and elsewhere, faces more prohibitions under Brazil's laws than in the U.S., Musk has emerged as both a cause célèbre and a mouthpiece for unrestricted free speech.

Since 2019, X has shut down 226 accounts of far-right activities accused of undermining Brazil's democracy, including those of lawmakers affiliated with Bolsonaro’s party, according to court records.

But when it refused to take action on some accounts, de Moraes warned last month that its legal representative could be arrested, prompting X to disband its local office. The U.S.-based company refused to name a new representative — as required in order to receive court notices — and de Moraes ordered its nationwide suspension until it did so.

A Supreme Court panel unanimously upheld de Moraes’ decision to block X days later, undermining Musk's efforts to cast him as an authoritarian bent on censoring political speech.

The more controversial component of his ruling was the levy of a whopping $9,000 daily fine for regular Brazilians using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access X.

“Some of these measures that have been adopted by the Supreme Court appear to be quite onerous and abusive,” said Andrei Roman, CEO of Brazil-based pollster Atlas Intel.

In the lead-up to Saturday's protest, some right-wing politicians defied de Moraes’ ban and brazenly used a VPN to publish posts on X, calling for people to partake in the protests.

The march in Sao Paulo is organized in parallel to official events to celebrate Brazil’s anniversary of independence from Portugal. Commemorations have been fraught with tension in recent years, as Bolsonaro used them while in office to rally supporters and show political strength.

Three years ago, he threatened to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis when he declared he would no longer abide de Moraes' rulings. He has since toned down the attacks — a reflection of his own delicate legal situation.

Bolsonaro has been indicted twice since his term ended in 2022, most recently for alleged money laundering in connection with undeclared diamonds from Saudi Arabia. De Moraes is overseeing an investigation into the Jan. 8 riot, including whether Bolsonaro had a role in inciting it.

Associated Press writers Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report. Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro.

Demonstrators take part in a demonstration calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who recently imposed a nationwide block on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)

Demonstrators take part in a protest calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who recently imposed a nationwide block on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)

Demonstrators take part in a protest calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who recently imposed a nationwide block on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)

Demonstrators take part in a protest calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who recently imposed a nationwide block on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)

A demonstrator, his mouth covered with tape marked with the Brazilian Supreme Court acronym, takes part in a protest calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who recently imposed a nationwide block on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)

A protester, dressed to depict Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes wearing a diaper, takes part in a protest calling for the impeachment of de Moraes, who recently imposed a nationwide block on Elon Musk's social media platform X, in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)

Demonstrators take part in a protest calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who recently imposed a nationwide block on Elon Musk's social media platform X, in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 26, 2025--

LankaPay - Sri Lanka’s National Payment Network - announced their partnership with Ant International, a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider, to launch Alipay+ acceptance in Sri Lanka at a press conference held on 25 th March 2025 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. Accordingly, over 400,000 LANKAQR merchants across Sri Lanka will be able to accept cross-border mobile payments from tourists and business traveller via 14 international e-wallets connected to Alipay+ during the first phase.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250326868333/en/

Alipay+, Ant International’s cross-border mobile payment and digitalisation solution, now connects over 1.7 billion users via 36 international e-wallets and banks apps worldwide. During the initial phase, travellers from 10 countries and regions, can simply scan the LANKAQR code at more than 400,000 merchants across the island to make payments, just as they are used to at home.

The Alipay+ partners enabled for cross-border payment acceptance in Sri Lanka in the first phase include: Alipay (Chinese mainland), AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), MPay (Macao SAR), Hipay (Mongolia), GCash (the Philippines), Changi Pay and OCBC Digital (Singapore), Touch ‘n Go eWallet and MyPB by Public Bank Berhad (Malaysia), Naver Pay and Toss Pay (South Korea), TrueMoney (Thailand), BigPay (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand), and Tinaba (Italy).

The launch of Alipay+ would represent the biggest acceptance of cross-border payments in Sri Lanka, including their partners from top inbound operators and potential markets such as Italy, Singapore, Malaysia and China, as identified by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), and other top growth markets like South Korea and Thailand. All these travellers will now be able to make seamless payments when they visit Sri Lanka, paying with their preferred home payment app/e-wallet, which not only offers added convenience to mobile-savvy customers, but also ensures more business for local merchants.

Figures from SLTDA showed steady growth in Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, with visitor arrivals increasing by 38 percent in 2024, compared to the year before. For 2025, Sri Lanka is targeting 3 million tourist arrivals and US$5 billion in tourism related revenue.

Welcoming Ant International into Sri Lanka, Mr. Channa de Silva, CEO of LankaPay, stated: "We are delighted to partner with Ant International and enable Alipay+ cross-border payment solution, which signifies a landmark milestone in our global journey. This partnership connects us with international Alipay+ partner users worldwide, enabling them to make seamless payments during their visit to Sri Lanka, similar to their experience at home. This collaboration signifies our commitment to enhance payment convenience to tourists and business travellers to Sri Lanka and attract much needed foreign exchange into the country. Our aim is to support the country’s booming tourism sector with seamless and secure digital payments providing a greater convenience to the travellers whilst providing a cost-efficient digital payment acceptance mechanism to local merchants.”

LANKAQR is a national initiative launched by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to ensure all QR code-based transactions are standardized and interoperable in Sri Lanka. Introduced in 2020, LANKAQR network is managed and operated by LankaPay, providing a platform to connect consumers, banks and merchants into a single payment network across the country.

Edward Yue, General Manager for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Ant International said: “The national LANKAQR infrastructure by the Sri Lanka Central Bank and LankaPay lays a strong foundation for the digitalisation of local businesses and we’re proud to partner with LankaPay to enhance interoperability and connect global customers to the local payment ecosystem. Tourism will be a significant driving force in the global economy and based on trends we are seeing, Sri Lanka will significantly benefit, as travellers seek rich cultural, nature and unique experiences. Beyond payments, Alipay+ also enables merchants to reach travellers through new digital services directly within mobile apps, digitalising key travel scenarios, opening new channels of engagements and driving even more vibrant and inclusive growth.”

Ant International and LankaPay will enable more Alipay+ partner e-wallet acceptance in Sri Lanka and collaborate on joint marketing efforts.

About LankaPay

Incorporated in 2002, LankaPay is Sri Lanka’s National Payment Network. With a multitude of digital payment solutions, the entity facilitates domestic interbank payment solutions under the guidance of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Being one of South Asia’s most progressive payment networks, LankaPay has pioneered many payment technology innovations in the region. Owned by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and all licensed commercial banks in the country, the entity is regarded as one of the best public private partnerships in the region. In 2020, under the guidance of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, LankaPay implemented LANKAQR – a unified interoperable QR code in compliance with EMVCO standards. Currently there are 21 local banks and finance companies connected to the LANKAQR network enabling over 400,000 merchants across the island.

About Ant International

Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider offering a unified techfin platform to unlock next-gen commerce for all. In close collaboration with partners, they support merchants of all sizes worldwide to realize their growth aspirations through a comprehensive range of tech-driven digital payment and financial services solutions. To learn more, please visit https://www.antglobal.com/

About Alipay+

Ant International's Alipay+ is a unified wallet gateway with cross-border payment and digitisation services that help connect global merchants to consumers. Consumers enjoy seamless payments a broad choice of deals and the convenience of digital services using their preferred payment app/e-wallet while travelling abroad. Many small and medium-sized businesses already use Alipay+ digital tools to enhance efficiency and achieve omni-channel growth.

LankaPay and Ant International partner to connect global consumers to local merchants via LANKAQR and Alipay+