The social network formerly called Twitter · x.com
X, formerly Twitter, has been blocked in China and Iran since 2009 and in Russia since 2022. Governments and courts have also shut it out for weeks or months: Brazil in 2024, Pakistan from 2024 to 2025 and Venezuela until 2026.
Every day we open X (Twitter) from inside 24 countries, mostly over home broadband, and record
where it’s blocked, since when and how.
3 of 24tested countries with a confirmed block of X (Twitter)
Blocked in China and Russia, and on some networks in Iran. 24 of 24 results confirmed in the last 48 hours.
Blocked means the networks we test there failed to open x.com, twice, while it opened elsewhere.
“Turned away by the site” means X (Twitter) itself refused visitors from that country.
* First observed on this date: the block may be older. Older results are excluded from current totals.
Background
Where X (Twitter) is restricted, and why
China cut Twitter off on 2 June 2009, two days before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, and Iran blocked it the same year, as protests broke out over the disputed presidential election. Turkmenistan blocked it in the early 2010s, North Korea in April 2016 and Myanmar’s military in February 2021, after the coup. Russia throttled Twitter from 2021, accusing it of letting users spread illegal content, and formally banned it in March 2022, just after invading Ukraine.
Pakistan blocked X around its February 2024 election and later told a court the ban was needed for national security, because X had failed to follow government directives; it was unblocked in May 2025, during a four-day conflict with India. In Brazil, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X blocked in August 2024, after it failed to appoint a legal representative there, and threatened fines for using a VPN to reach it. The block was lifted in October 2024, once X complied.
Venezuela blocked X in August 2024, during the crackdown on protests after the disputed presidential election. It began working again on some networks in January 2026, after US forces captured Nicolás Maduro, but the state-owned main provider kept blocking it until 25 June 2026, and on some networks X’s image and video addresses stayed filtered. Tanzania blocked X on 20 May 2025; the authorities later said it hosted pornographic content against the country’s moral and legal values.
Turkey shows another kind of limit: blocks on single accounts rather than the whole site. Turkish authorities had scores of social media accounts blocked or suspended between June 2024 and May 2025, and in March 2025 X itself blocked the accounts of the independent outlet Bianet and of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, after his arrest set off protests.
Key dates
Venezuela’s main internet providers lift their block on X, in place since August 2024, though some of its image and video addresses stay filtered.
Tanzania blocks X; in June the authorities say it hosted pornographic content against the country’s moral and legal values.
Pakistan unblocks X, restricted since its February 2024 election, during a four-day conflict with India.
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice orders X blocked for failing to appoint a legal representative; the block is lifted in October 2024.
Russia formally bans Twitter, just after invading Ukraine, having throttled it since 2021.
China blocks Twitter two days before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown.
Get past a block
X (Twitter) blocked where you are?
A VPN connects you through a server in another country, so a local block on X (Twitter) no longer applies. Where VPNs themselves are blocked, you need one that can disguise its traffic.
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History
Changes for X (Twitter)
No confirmed changes since monitoring began on 29 Sep 2026. When a block appears or lifts, and a re-check on several machines agrees, it shows up here.
Method
How we test
Test machines on the two biggest home-internet providers in most countries open the homepage every day.
A failure counts only when it happens twice on the same network, while the site opens from other countries.
A change is published only after re-checks a few hours later and again the next day, on several machines per provider, confirm it. It’s dated from the first sighting.
Test machines caught getting around blocks, through a VPN or a filter-dodging tool, are set aside.
We test websites, mostly over home broadband. Apps, calls and mobile networks can behave differently.
China and Iran have blocked it since 2009, Turkmenistan since the early 2010s, North Korea since 2016, Myanmar since 2021 and Russia since March 2022. Pakistan blocked it from February 2024 to May 2025 and Brazil from August to October 2024, Venezuela’s main providers blocked it from August 2024 to June 2026, and Tanzania blocked it in May 2025.
Why Was X Banned in Brazil?
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the block in August 2024, after X failed to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, the end of a months-long dispute over its refusal to restrict far-right accounts. He also threatened fines for using a VPN to reach X. The block was lifted in October 2024, after X complied.
When Did Venezuela Unblock X?
In stages. Nicolás Maduro’s government blocked X in August 2024. It began working again on some networks in January 2026, after US forces captured Maduro, but the state-owned main provider kept blocking it until 25 June 2026, when Venezuela’s main providers lifted the block.
