Top Brazilian judge orders suspension of X platform in Brazil amid feud with Musk

Tesla and SpaceX chief executive officer Elon Musk (L) and Brazil's Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. (Agencies)
Tesla and SpaceX chief executive officer Elon Musk (L) and Brazil's Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. (Agencies)
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Updated 02 September 2024
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Top Brazilian judge orders suspension of X platform in Brazil amid feud with Musk

Tesla and SpaceX chief executive officer Elon Musk (L) and Brazil's Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. (Agencies)
  • “Elon Musk showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, setting himself up as a true supranational entity and immune to the laws of each country,” de Moraes wrote

SAO PAULO: A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Friday ordered the suspension of Elon Musk’s social media giant X in Brazil after the tech billionaire refused to name a legal representative in the country, according to a copy of the decision seen by The Associated Press
The move further escalates the monthslong feud between the two men over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes had warned Musk on Wednesday night that X could be blocked in Brazil if he failed to comply with his order to name a representative, and established a 24-hour deadline. The company hasn’t had a representative in the country since earlier this month.
In his decision, de Moraes gave Internet service providers and app stores five days to block access to X, and said the platform will remain blocked until it complies with his orders. He also said people or companies who use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access X will be subject to daily fines of 50,000 reais ($8,900).
“Elon Musk showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, setting himself up as a true supranational entity and immune to the laws of each country,” de Moraes wrote.

Brazil is an important market for X, which has struggled with the loss of advertisers since Musk purchased the former Twitter in 2022. Market research group Emarketer says some 40 million Brazilians, roughly one-fifth of the population, access X at least once per month.
X had posted on its official Global Government Affairs page late Thursday that it expected X to be shut down by de Moraes, “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
“When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts,” the company wrote. “Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him.”
X has clashed with de Moraes over its reluctance to comply with orders to block users.
Accounts that the platform previously has shut down on Brazilian orders include lawmakers affiliated with former President Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing party and activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy.
Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has repeatedly claimed the justice’s actions amount to censorship, and his argument has been echoed by Brazil’s political right. He has often insulted de Moraes on his platform, characterizing him as a dictator and tyrant.
De Moraes’ defenders have said his actions aimed at X have been lawful, supported by most of the court’s full bench and have served to protect democracy at a time in which it is imperiled. His order Friday is based on Brazilian law requiring foreign companies to have representation in the country so they can be notified when there are legal cases against them.
Given that operators are aware of the widely publicized standoff and their obligation to comply with an order from de Moraes, plus the fact doing so isn’t complicated, X could be offline as early as 12 hours after receiving their instructions, said Luca Belli, coordinator of the Technology and Society Center at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university in Rio de Janeiro.
The shutdown is not unprecedented in Brazil.
Lone Brazilian judges shut down Meta’s WhatsApp, the nation’s most widely used messaging app, several times in 2015 and 2016 due to the company’s refusal to comply with police requests for user data. In 2022, de Moraes threatened the messaging app Telegram with a nationwide shutdown, arguing it had repeatedly ignored Brazilian authorities’ requests to block profiles and provide information. He ordered Telegram to appoint a local representative; the company ultimately complied and stayed online.
X and its former incarnation, Twitter, have been banned in several countries — mostly authoritarian regimes such as Russia, China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Venezuela and Turkmenistan. Other countries, such as Pakistan, Turkiye and Egypt, have also temporarily suspended X before, usually to quell dissent and unrest. Twitter was banned in Egypt after the Arab Spring uprisings, which some dubbed the “Twitter revolution,” but it has since been restored.
A search Friday on X showed hundreds of Brazilian users inquiring about VPNs that could potentially enable them to continue using the platform by making it appear they were logging on from outside the country. It was not immediately clear how Brazilian authorities would police this practice and impose fines cited by de Moraes.
Mariana de Souza Alves Lima, known by her handle MariMoon, showed her 1.4 million followers on X that she would go to rival social network BlueSky, posting a screenshot and saying: “That is where I’m going.”
X said that it plans to publish what it has called de Moraes’ “illegal demands” and related court filings “in the interest of transparency.”
Also on Thursday evening, Starlink, Musk’s satellite Internet service provider, said on X that de Moraes this week froze its finances, preventing it from doing any transactions in the country where it has more than 250,000 customers.
“This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied— unconstitutionally— against X. It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to address the matter legally,” Starlink said in its statement.
Musk replied to people sharing the reports of the freeze, adding insults directed at de Moraes. “This guy @Alexandre is an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge,” he wrote.
Musk later posted on X that SpaceX, which runs Starlink, will provide free Internet service in Brazil “until the matter is resolved” since “we cannot receive payment, but don’t want to cut anyone off.”
In his decision, de Moraes said he ordered the freezing of Starlink’s assets, as X didn’t have enough money in its accounts to cover mounting fines, and reasoning that the two companies are part of the same economic group.

 


OpenAI’s ChatGPT faces massive outage with thousands of users impacted

OpenAI’s ChatGPT faces massive outage with thousands of users impacted
Updated 09 November 2024
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OpenAI’s ChatGPT faces massive outage with thousands of users impacted

OpenAI’s ChatGPT faces massive outage with thousands of users impacted

BENGALURU, India: Microsoft-backed OpenAI said on Friday night it is facing an issue that has resulted in its popular chatbot ChatGPT being unavailable.
The company said in a statement on its website that it was investigating the issue and working to restore functionality as soon as possible.
Over 19,403 users had been impacted by the outage as of 7:13 p.m. ET (0013 GMT on Saturday), according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com.
OpenAI did not immediately responded to a request for comment.


Athar Festival hosts 4 academies to train next generation of creative talent in Saudi

Athar Festival hosts 4 academies to train next generation of creative talent in Saudi
Updated 07 November 2024
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Athar Festival hosts 4 academies to train next generation of creative talent in Saudi

Athar Festival hosts 4 academies to train next generation of creative talent in Saudi
  • 2 academies designed for students, 2 for industry professionals
  • Focus on creativity, marketing

DUBAI: The second edition of the Athar Saudi Festival of Creativity opened on Tuesday at the Crowne Plaza RDC in Riyadh.

Hosted by the UAE-based Motivate Media Group and communications consultancy TRACCS, the event featured 100 regional and international speakers and several training initiatives.

One such initiative was the Young Talent Academies, which boasted four academies aiming to foster talent in the creative and marketing fields in Saudi Arabia.

The four academies were the Student Creative Academy, in partnership with regional advertising group Middle East Communications Network; the Student Marketers Academy, in partnership with Arabic entertainment firm UTURN; and the NextGen Creative Academy and NextGen Marketing Academy, in partnership with the Saudi Tourism Authority.

The first two were tailored for students, while the latter two were for young professionals already working in the industry.

The Young Talent Academies were a key component of the festival and are dedicated to “nurturing the next generation of creatives that will shape the future of Saudi Arabia,” said Ian Fairservice, chairman of Athar Festival and managing partner of Motivate Media Group.

He told Arab News: “The remarkable interest received is a clear indication of ambitions being aligned, and the lineup of immersive workshops and mentorship and networking opportunities at the festival promised to equip participants with invaluable insights and transformative career lessons.”

The Student Creative Academy, in partnership with MCN, brought together experts from across its agencies, which included FP7 McCann, MullenLowe MENA, UM, Initiative MENAT, MRM, Jack Morton, and Weber Shandwick.

Designed to “equip the next generation of creatives with skills and insights, while also instilling the fun of being a creative,” the academy provided participants “with a curated program of talks, mentorships, and creative brief challenges judged by industry leaders, culminating in an awards ceremony,” Ricarda Ruecker, chief talent officer of MCN in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkiye, told Arab News.

UTURN’s Student Marketers Academy’s participants consisted of 60 percent female and 40 percent male students representing universities including Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, University of Business and Technology, King Saud University, and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.

Led by Salwa Bankhar, Webedia Saudi Arabia’s business director, the academy featured eight speakers with expertise in content creation, marketing skills, storytelling, networking strategies and self-promotion.

Both MCN and UTURN are committed to developing local talent in the Kingdom and the academies were part of these efforts.

The Athar Saudi Festival of Creativity plays “an active role in shaping up the creative and marketing industry in Saudi Arabia” and provides “much-needed visibility and exposure to local Saudi talent,” said George Maktabi, CEO of UTURN’s parent company Webedia Group.

“Students take a sponge-like attitude to learning, but also give back candid observations and raw perceptions that puts everyone on a different learning curve,” he told Arab News.

The company is “established around young local talent, and by structure it acts as a hub for Saudi talent,” he added.

For MCN, the academy is of “strategic importance” to the company and a “natural extension” of the initiatives it has in place to foster talent development, Ruecker said.

Earlier this year MCN launched a six-month graduate program in Saudi Arabia to attract and train young local talent. It will launch a second edition in February 2025.

Although MCN and UTURN did not directly offer jobs or internships to participants, both companies said they have various initiatives in place for talent development.

Maktabi said: “UTURN is continuously headhunting talent and young marketers.

“Recruitment is of course competitive-based, and it is important to maintain an open call for talents to ensure open and equal access to all talents.”

The Student Marketers Academy is aimed at guiding students and empowering them “to pursue new opportunities more proactively, and UTURN is always approachable,” Maktabi added.

Ruecker said that MCN already had internship programs across the region and was “committed to inspiring students at the Student Creative Academy to pursue rewarding paths with us, whether through our graduate program or full-time roles across MCN’s agencies.”

The festival took place on Nov. 5-6 with the academies featuring from Nov. 3-6.


Taliban shut down Radio Zhman over alleged music broadcast

Taliban shut down Radio Zhman over alleged music broadcast
Updated 07 November 2024
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Taliban shut down Radio Zhman over alleged music broadcast

Taliban shut down Radio Zhman over alleged music broadcast
  • Officials closed the radio station after warnings about broadcasting background music during programs
  • Afghanistan Journalists Center says closure is a ‘significant infringement on the fundamental rights of free media’

LONDON: Taliban authorities have shut down Radio Zhman TV in Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost province, accusing the station of using background music in its broadcasts, a violation of the Taliban’s media policies since their takeover of the country in August 2021.

The Afghanistan Journalists Center condemned the closure on Wednesday, calling it a “significant infringement on the fundamental rights of free media” and warned of potential repercussions if restrictions on local media continue to escalate.

According to AFJC, Afghanistan’s media law stipulates that journalists and media organizations should be able to conduct their professional duties without undue restrictions, and that authorities have a responsibility to support media freedoms.

US-based Amu TV reported that the decision was made during a commission meeting at Khost’s Directorate of Information and Culture, which included representatives from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, local intelligence, police, and information officials.

The commission determined that the station’s use of light background music in a social issues program was a breach of the Taliban’s strict media policies.

The Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which enforces its interpretation of Islamic law, had previously issued warnings to broadcasters about playing music, which the group deems inappropriate.

Radio Zhman, established in 2017, broadcasts a mix of political, social, cultural and educational programming from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., reaching listeners in Khost and parts of neighboring Paktia province.

It is the second local media outlet to be shut down in Khost recently. Gharghasht Radio was closed on Oct. 31 but allowed to resume operations three days later on the condition that it refrains from broadcasting any music.


Dubai ‘most reputable city’ as Middle East shows strong progress in Brand Finance Global City Index

Dubai ‘most reputable city’ as Middle East shows strong progress in Brand Finance Global City Index
Updated 07 November 2024
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Dubai ‘most reputable city’ as Middle East shows strong progress in Brand Finance Global City Index

Dubai ‘most reputable city’ as Middle East shows strong progress in Brand Finance Global City Index
  • Emirati city moves up 4 places to 5th in overall global rankings, based on all measured attributes, behind London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo
  • Riyadh and Jeddah climb 4 and 6 places respectively to rank 75th and 79th on the overall global list

LONDON: Dubai claimed the title of most reputable city in the world in the 2024 Brand Finance Global City Index, which revealed notable improvements across the region.

The brand valuation and strategy consultancy firm’s second annual global survey on city perceptions, the results of which were released on Thursday, placed Dubai fifth in the overall global rankings, which are based on all measured attributes, behind London, New York, Paris and Tokyo.

Last year, the Emirati city ranked ninth. This time, the survey found it had made substantial gains in terms of investment appeal and reputation, bolstered by strong governance and strategic investments.

Riyadh and Jeddah also improved, climbing four and six places respectively to rank 75th and 79th on the overall global list.

Riyadh enjoyed some impressive gains in specific attributes, moving up 37 places in the rankings in recognition of its high-profile sports teams and clubs, 24 places for its private schools, and 20 places for its shopping, dining and nightlife options, making it one of the fastest-growing cities by these measures.

Andrew Campbell, managing director of Brand Finance Middle East, attributed the rapid improvements in the regional rankings, particularly the success of Dubai, to strategic investments by governments in infrastructure, tourism and the business sector.

“The substantial improvements in Dubai’s consideration metrics further highlight the city’s increasing allure as a premier destination for visitors, residents, businesses and global investors,” he said.

Dubai’s appeal in terms of business and innovation, along with a stable economy and favorable corporate tax policies, were credited with moving it four spots higher in the overall rankings than a year ago. It also achieved significant improvements in its rankings for local working (from 16th to 8th) and remote working (from 24th to 4th).

The index is based on a survey of more than 15,000 respondents. It measures factors related to familiarity, reputation and consideration to assess how desirable a city is viewed for living, working, studying, visiting, retiring and investing.

Abu Dhabi ranked 30th on the overall global list, the same as last year, but improved in terms of science, technology and economic appeal.

Other cities in the Middle East and North Africa that appear on the list include Cairo (63rd place in the overall rankings), Doha (69th), Casablanca (73rd) and Tel Aviv (83rd), which dropped six places amid ongoing conflicts.


Saudi stories pique audience interest, says Bloomberg Media MD

Saudi stories pique audience interest, says Bloomberg Media MD
Updated 07 November 2024
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Saudi stories pique audience interest, says Bloomberg Media MD

Saudi stories pique audience interest, says Bloomberg Media MD
  • Visiting the Athar Festival of Creativity in Riyadh, Amit Nayak told Arab News: “We’ve seen a real appetite from our global audiences for content from here”

RIYADH: Stories and articles about Saudi Arabia and the region are among the most widely read by audiences, according to Bloomberg Media’s managing director in the Middle East and Africa.

Visiting the Athar Festival of Creativity in Riyadh, Amit Nayak told Arab News: “We’ve seen a real appetite from our global audiences for content from here.”

He said that with such a large and diverse team based in the Middle East, Bloomberg Media was able to bring local insights and perspectives to provide content based on what audiences wanted.

“We remain focused on deeply understanding our Middle Eastern audience, fostering direct relationships, and delivering trusted news and insights tailored to their needs,” he said.

“We work with leading entities across the region, such as Saudi Tourism Authority and Red Sea Global, using custom content across different platforms to help tell their stories to regional and global audiences.”

The use of smart technology has been big part of Bloomberg’s strategy for over a decade, with The Bulletin being a predominant feature on the app. Launched by Bloomberg’s Media Innovation Lab in 2018, it provides single-sentence summaries of the top three stories.

“We leverage first-party subscriber data through our AI-powered Audience Accelerator platform,” added Nayak. “This allows us to precisely target key demographics to inform machine learning models that predict the population of users on the site, enhancing campaign performance and building brand credibility.”

In 2022, Bloomberg Media Studios opened a regional studio in Dubai and earlier this year launched “Bloomberg Horizons: Middle East & Africa,” a flagship morning program.

Bloomberg News also launched the Mideast Money newsletter, which focuses on “the intersection of wealth and power, and the impact of regional sovereign investors and dealmakers in global finance.”

Evolving as a commercial team that, 10 years ago, predominantly sold advertising, Nayak said that as clients became more sophisticated and keener to reach global audiences, Bloomberg Middle East was fostering internal talent to better collaborate with them.

“We were well placed because we have invested heavily in our teams on the ground here — whether that’s expanding sales, building a client marketing team, or hosting events on the ground in the region,” he said.