Days after hitching a ride on Elon Musk's speech, owner of the X social network (formerly Twitter), allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and other members of the opposition to Lula's government (PT) have sought to downplay the possibility of banning TikTok in the United States and possible relations and impacts of the episode involving social media clashes in Brazil.
Given the assessment that possible restrictions on Twitter and TikTok in each of the countries involve different scenarios, speeches of liberality on social media have cooled down and lawmakers have adopted a divided stance. The opposition leader in the Senate, Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), even sees censorship in the American decision, while others only classify it as a geopolitical issue, like Hamilton Mourão (Republicans-RS), senator, former vice president of Bolsonaro and retired general.
Left-wing leaders have pointed out inconsistencies in this position, since, in Brazil, Bolsonaro supporters criticize the banning and suspension of accounts and users on X accused of fake news. On Sunday (21), during a rally in Rio, Bolsonaro called Musk a "myth of freedom" and said "his goal is for the whole world to be free." Regarding possible restrictions on TikTok in the USA, however, he has remained silent. US President Joe Biden signed a bill on Wednesday (24) giving the company nine months to sell its operations. ByteDance, the company that owns the app, must pass into American control if it intends to continue operating legally in the country.
Congressman and Bolsonaro supporter Otoni de Paula (MDB-RJ) says it is not possible to draw parallels between the decisions of the American Congress and the Brazilian Justice. "One is national security, the other is opinion crime."