NFL reporters affected by Brazil's X ban

On Friday, the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles will play in the first international game in South America when they take the field at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil. But unfortunately for those covering the game, it will feature unique challenges that no other game has had in well over a decade.

For most major sports, the largest platform when it comes to reporting takes place on X, formerly known as Twitter. And thanks to a recent decision from Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, the platform is no longer accessible within Brazil .

To add some context, this decision was made due to an ongoing feud with Brazil president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and X owner Elon Musk that stems from the fallout of the 2022 Brazilian election, which included a mob attempting to storm the capital .

To make a long story short, de Moraes called for the removal of several accounts of the losing party members in the recent election across social media services, claiming they were spreading misinformation on X. Musk then responded by saying that de Moraes is suppressing free speech, calling him “Brazil’s Darth Vader.”

It doesn’t sound like this Supreme Court decision will be overturned anytime soon. So for Friday’s game, those traveling to cover the game will need to rely on other social media platforms, including Bluesky and Threads.

Eliot Shorr-Parks, an Eagles reporter for 94WIP Sports Radio in Philadelphia, is one of the many who will be impacted by the X ban. On Sunday, he took to X to inform his followers that he would not be able to use the platform since he is traveling for the game, sharing his Threads link in the post.

In a recent conversation with Front Office Sports , Shorr-Parks discussed how the ban has led to an inability to interact with a “big portion” of his audience.

“It’s had an impact,” said Shorr-Parks. “I’m doing the same work, but it isn’t reaching the same audience. It’s the biggest week of the year and an incredibly unique experience. The biggest part of my job is connecting to fans and with Twitter gone I’ve lost a big portion of being able to do that.”

Brazil has already formulated a plan to crack down on those attempting to get around the ban, imposing an $8,900 daily fine for those who are found using a VPN or other methods to use the platform.

Matt Schneidman, a Green Bay Packers beat writer for The Athletic, shared his plan to reach his audience through The Athletic’s live blog.

“All you people telling me to use a VPN didn’t tell me it would cost me $8,900,” wrote Schneidman on X. “I’ll catch you on The Athletic’s live blog.”

These challenges for those covering the game with the X ban in place are largely unprecedented in this era of sports media. So it will sure be interesting to see how quickly information emerges about important information prior to Friday’s game.

[ Front Office Sports ]

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