PARIS: With its ban of X, which went into effect on Saturday, Brazil joins a small club of countries to have taken similar measures against the social network, most of them run by authoritarian regimes.
Beyond permanent bans, some nations have temporarily restricted access to X, formerly Twitter, which has often been used by political dissidents to communicate.
These have included Egypt in 2011 during the Arab Spring uprisings, Turkiye in 2014 and 2023, and Uzbekistan around that country’s 2021 presidential election.
Here is a list of some of the others:
China
Beijing banned Twitter in June 2009 — before it secured the prominent place it enjoyed in Western media and politics for much of the 2010s.
The block came two days before the 20-year anniversary of the government’s crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations in the capital’s Tiananmen Square.
Since then, many Chinese people have turned to home-grown alternatives such as Weibo and WeChat.
Iran
Twitter was also blocked by Tehran in 2009, as a wave of demonstrations broke out following a contested June presidential election.
The network has nevertheless been used since then to pass information to the outside world about dissident movements, including the demonstrations against Iran’s repression of women’s rights since late 2022.
Turkmenistan
Isolated Central Asian country Turkmenistan blocked Twitter in the early 2010s alongside many other foreign online services and websites.
Authorities in Ashgabat surveil closely citizens’ usage of the Internet, provided through state-run monopoly operator TurkmenTelecom.
North Korea
Pyongyang opened its own Twitter account in 2010 in a bid to woo foreigners interested in the country.
But the application has been blocked along with Facebook, YouTube and gambling and pornography websites since April 2016.
Internet access beyond a few government websites is under tight government watch in the hermit regime, with access restricted to a few high-ranking officials.
Myanmar
X has been blocked since February 2021, when authorities took aim at the app for its use by opponents of the military coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government.
Since then, the junta has kept a tight grip on Internet access in Myanmar.
Russia
Access to Twitter was throttled from 2021 by Moscow, which complained the site was allowing users to spread “illegal content.”
A formal ban came in March 2022, just after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Many Russian users continue to connect to X via VPN services that allow them to get around the block.
Pakistan
X has been banned since parliamentary polls in February this year.
Pakistan’s government, backed by the army, say the block is for security reasons.
Former prime minister Imran Khan — now in jail — was targeted by widespread allegations of fraud spread via the platform against his opposition party.
Venezuela
Nicolas Maduro, who was declared winner of July’s presidential election despite grave suspicions of fraud, ordered access to X suspended for 10 days on August 9 as security forces were violently putting down nationwide demonstrations.
The block has remained in place beyond the expiry of the 10-day period.
Brazil
The country’s block on X has come from the judiciary, via Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes.
He has highlighted the reactivation of accounts that had been ordered suspended by Brazilian courts.
Users connecting to X via a VPN face a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) per day.
Brazil joins Pakistan, other nations in banning X social network
https://arab.news/pxj5p
Brazil joins Pakistan, other nations in banning X social network
- Beyond permanent bans, some nations have temporarily restricted access to X
- Formerly Twitter, X has often been used by political dissidents to communicate
MenaML hosts 2026 Winter School in Saudi Arabia to boost AI education, collaboration in region
- Second edition of Winter School will be hosted in partnership with KAUST
DUBAI: The Middle East and North Africa Machine Learning Winter School will host its second edition in Saudi Arabia this year, in partnership with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
The non-profit held its inaugural edition in Doha last year in partnership with the Qatar Computing Research Institute.
The initiative began when like-minded individuals from Google DeepMind and QCRI came together to launch a platform connecting a “community of top-tier AI practitioners with a shared interest in shaping the future of the MENA region,” Sami Alabed, a research scientist at Google DeepMind and one of the co-founders of MenaML, told Arab News.
Along with Alabed, the core team includes Maria Abi Raad and Amal Rannen-Triki from Google DeepMind, as well as Safa Messaoud and Yazan Boshmaf from QCRI.
Messaoud said that the school has three goals: building local talent in artificial intelligence, enhancing employability and connection, and reversing brain drain while fostering regional opportunity.
AI has dominated boardrooms and courtrooms alike globally, but “AI research and education in MENA are currently in a nascent, yet booming, stage,” she added.
Launched at a pivotal moment for the region, the initiative was timed to ensure “regional representation in the global AI story while cultivating AI models that are culturally aligned,” said Rannen-Triki.
The school’s vision is to cultivate researchers capable of developing “sophisticated, culturally aligned AI models” that reflect the region’s values and linguistic and cultural diversity, said Messaoud.
This approach, she added, enables the region to contribute meaningfully to the global AI ecosystem while ensuring that AI technologies remain locally relevant and ethically grounded.
MenaML aims to host its annual program in a different city each year, partnering with reputable institutions in each host location.
“Innovation does not happen in silos; breakthroughs are born from collaboration that extends beyond borders and lab lines,” said Alabed.
“Bringing together frontier labs to share their knowledge echoes this message, where each partner brings a unique viewpoint,” he added.
This year, MenaML has partnered with KAUST, which “offers deep dives into specialized areas critical to the region, blending collaborative spaces with self-learning and placement programs,” said Abi Raad.
The program, developed in partnership with KAUST, brings together speakers from 16 institutions and focuses on four key areas: AI and society, AI and sciences, AI development, and regional initiatives.
“These themes align with the scientific priorities and research excellence pillars of KAUST as well as the needs of regional industries seeking to deploy AI safely and effectively,” said Bernard Ghanem, professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science at KAUST and director of the Center of Excellence in Generative AI.
The program will also highlight efficiency in AI systems, with the overall goal of equipping “participants with the conceptual and practical understanding needed to contribute meaningfully to next-generation AI research and development,” he told Arab News.
For KAUST, hosting the MenaML Winter School aligns with Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become a global hub for AI research under Vision 2030.
By attracting top researchers, industry partners, and young talent to the Kingdom, it helps cement the Kingdom’s position as a center for AI excellence, Ghanem said.
It also aligns closely with Vision 2030’s “goals of building human capital, fostering innovation, and developing a knowledge-based economy” and “contributes to the long-term development of a world-leading AI ecosystem in Saudi Arabia,” he added.
Although the program accepts students from around the world, participants must demonstrate a connection to the MENA region, Abi Raad said.
The goal is to build bridges between those who may have left the region and those who remain, enabling them to start conversations and collaborate, she added.
A certain percentage of spots is reserved for participants from the host country, while a small percentage is allocated to fully international students with no regional ties, with the objective of offering them a glimpse into the regional AI ecosystem.
Looking ahead, MenaML envisions growing from an annual event into a sustainable, central pillar of the regional AI ecosystem, inspired by the growth trajectory of global movements like TED or the Deep Learning Indaba, a sister organization supporting AI research and education in Africa.
Boshmaf said MenaML’s long-term ambition is to evolve beyond its flagship event into a broader movement, anchored by local MenaMLx chapters across the region.
Over time, the initiative aims to play a central role in strengthening the regional AI ecosystem by working with governments and the private sector to support workforce development, AI governance and safety education, and collaborative research, while raising the region’s global visibility through its talent network and international partnerships.
He added: “If TED is the global stage for ‘ideas worth spreading,’ MenaML is to be the regional stage for ‘AI ideas worth building.’”
The MenaML Winter School will run from Jan. 24 to 29 at KAUST in Saudi Arabia.
