Brazil Censorship Of X Forces Eagles-Packers Media To Get Creative; NFL Remains Silent On Issue
By now we all probably know that Brazil's Supreme Court has censored the speech of millions of people in the country by shutting down the social platform X for the crime of not banning accounts it doesn't like.
The Brazilian Supreme court doesn't call that censorship.
It calls the move of shutting down unfettered speech on a social media giant something different: Protecting democracy.
Well, the NFL has stepped on this free speech landmine because Friday night it is playing its second game of the regular season when the Green Bay Packers "visit" the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo.
OutKick reported earlier this week that the NFL, eager to speak out and engage on social justice issues in the United States, has said nothing about this social justice issue that is directly affecting the league and its game in Brazil.
The NFL doesn't want to upset a partner and potential revenue stream, one supposes.
The amazing thing is the ban is affecting Americans.
Americans Being Affected By Brazil Decision
There are hundreds of Americans in country right now that cannot access their X accounts. The NFL's Brazil account stopped posting when the ban went into effect. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is in Brazil for the game and he cannot access his X account.
And still … silence from the NFL.
As if it's OK to be silenced abroad.
The funny thing is some media covering the game are, in fact, posting on X.
It's just that they're doing it via a little American ingenuity.
Journalist Getting Around The Ban
The Philadelphia Inquirer has sent four reporters to Brazil.
All have been posting to their X accounts. But none is posting from Brazil.
What's happening with many reporters covering this game, and one assumes some folks from the NFL itself, is people are sending what they want posted to their X account back to someone in the United States.
So the reports from Brazil for those accounts are being posted in the United States and wherever else X is available throughout the world.
Just not, you know, in Brazil.
Fun From Bad Brazil Situation
Some of the reporters in Brazil have turned this into something of an affable situation for themselves.
Zach Berman, who works for PHLY, and in the past did outstanding work for the Inquirer, The Athletic and the Washington Post, is apparently sending what he wants posted back home to his wife and kids.
And they're posting on his behalf.
It's become a fun sidenote of the leadup to Friday night's game.
Some reporters, on the other hand, are merely giving up. They're not posting or trying to use other social media sites despite having a much smaller reach on those than X.
Game Night Posting Interesting
It should be pretty interesting to see how it goes during the game when reporters at the game typically post feverishly.
Will the wives and kids keep up Friday night for in-game coverage? We shall see.
There is, however, a serious side to this.
As individuals, these journalists are powerless to effect change on what is obviously a bad situation in another country.
On the other hand, I've seen no criticism of that bad situation from any of the journalists who find themselves in it. I've seen no one press Goodell about it in country.
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 19: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell talks during a press conference at the Hilton Hotel on September 19, 2014 in New York City. Goodell spoke about the NFL's failure to address domestic violence, sexual assault and drug abuse in the league. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Reliant On Freedom But Not Protecting It
Journalists make their living by being able to speak, write, communicate freely. Freedom of expression is their life blood.
But, as far I have seen, none has made the point in their coverage that limiting speech through the banning of an enormous social media platform is bad for everyone. (I hope I merely missed someone making this point after looking for it. I hope I'm wrong and if I am, I apologize.)
But even if there is a dissenter on the ground who has criticized this speech ban and how it is affecting Americans (them), the silence from the majority of these journalists on the ground is sad.
It's people raised to value freedom of expression choosing not to point out freedom of expression is under attack.
And I get it, they're sports journalists. Their job is to write about the game.
But sometimes folks called to write about games need to expand their focus and cover a situation that is important and right in front of them.