Brazil’s Twitter Ban Hits Flamengo Hard: Our Account Was a Global Leader

According to Marca, a Spanish newspaper, a judge in Brazil recently banned the use of Twitter in the country due to Twitter’s “repeated violations of court orders.” This decision has also had an impact on Brazilian football, as Twitter plays a significant role in the Brazilian football scene, helping Brazilian clubs expand their influence globally.

Flamengo news office member Felipe Patinho said that this incident “has had a huge impact on the club.” Flamengo is one of the strongest clubs in the Brazilian league, with its home ground at the famous Maracana Stadium. “Flamengo has invested a lot of effort into Twitter, and the club was one of the leaders in terms of interaction on this social platform, both in the Americas and globally. Now, our way of publishing and sharing information has been severely affected. In fact, not only is Flamengo very active on Twitter, but many media outlets related to the club are also active on this platform.”

In response to this situation, this club from Rio de Janeiro is looking for other ways to interact with fans, but these alternative solutions seem unable to fully make up for the impact of the Twitter ban. “Currently, we are posting all content on Instagram. The other day, we played a match against Corinthians, and all the coverage was done through Instagram. Internally, there are discussions about moving to Threads or Bluesky, but no platform has as wide an influence in Brazil as Twitter does. Our goal is to bring the club to the world, and only Twitter can achieve this.”

“We experienced a match with almost no fan comments, which has always been a feature of Brazilian football,” Felipe added.

According to reports, most clubs in the Brazilian league have adopted similar strategies, posting information on different social platforms, especially Instagram or Bluesky. “Fluminense opened an account on Bluesky, a platform chosen by many Brazilian teams after Twitter stopped service. We continue our daily work on Facebook or Instagram,” said Barbara Mendozo, a reporter for Fluminense.

Eduardo Afonso, a reporter for ESPN Brazil who covers information about the Sao Paulo team, shares the same view. “Most teams are using Instagram. I think if the situation doesn’t improve in the coming days, they will also move to Threads or Bluesky,” he said. Although many teams have taken such strategies, some are unwilling to give up Twitter and continue to post information on the platform.