Brazil's ban of X could impact media coverage ahead of Packers-Eagles in Sao Paolo

Brazil's Supreme Court upheld a lower judge's ruling Monday that bans the popular social media platform site X, formerly known as Twitter.

The ruling originated from a court order issued to X's Brazil office in which certain accounts found to have been spreading disinformation were supposed to be blocked. X representatives refused the order, resulting in the app's ban.

Ahead of Friday's NFL game in Sao Paolo, American media members are now questioning how they'll be able to broadcast in-game updates to followers in real time.

Typically, NFL insiders and reporters post updates from the sidelines and observations from the press box on X. But with the app and website now banned, alternative methods might need to be employed.

Circumvention of the ban by using a virtual private network (VPN) is punishable by a fine according to the ruling, and it's unclear if any exceptions will be made for the upcoming NFL game.

X is the most popular social network in Brazil with 9.3 million active users, per Canadian tech firm Voronoi . With the website shut down and the app removed from Apple and Google Play stores, X's competitor Bluesky says it's seen a record jump in activity and 500,000 new users joining as of Aug. 31 .

Threads, Meta's competitive response to X, is a similar micro-blogging app mainly connected to one's Facebook or Instagram accounts. In addition to Bluesky, it could be Brazilians' only reprieve from X's absence with arguably the largest sporting event since the 2016 Olympics on their soil.