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From Fox Business: Social media giant X is closing its offices in Brazil due to legal threats from Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes.
The company claimed Saturday that executives were “forced to make this decision” after de Moraes threatened arrests if the platform did not take down content deemed problematic by the Brazilian government.
De Moraes ordered X to take down specific accounts earlier this year, accusing the platform of harboring “digital militias” he claims were spreading misinformation and hateful material regarding former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Musk refused, and instead closed up shop in Brazil, in order to protect the X staff there.
The X Global Government Affairs office released the following statement:
Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders. He did so in a secret order, which we share here to expose his actions.
Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard, the Brazilian public not being informed about these orders and our Brazilian staff having no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on our platform, Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process.
As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately.
The X service remains available to the people of Brazil. We are deeply saddened that we have been forced to make this decision. The responsibility lies solely with Alexandre de Moraes. His actions are incompatible with democratic government. The people of Brazil have a choice to make – democracy, or Alexandre de Moraes.
“Due to demands by โJusticeโ @Alexandre in Brazil that would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law, ๐ has no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil. He is an utter disgrace to justice,” Musk declared.
Due to demands by โJusticeโ @Alexandre in Brazil that would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law, ๐ has no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil.
He is an utter disgrace to justice. https://t.co/yAvX1TpuRp
โ Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024
Musk explained Saturday, “The decision to close the ๐ office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandreโs (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed.”
The decision to close the ๐ office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandreโs (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed.
โ Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024
Journalist Ian Miles Cheong wrote, “Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, in a despotic move, has brazenly threatened to throw ๐’s legal representative in Brazil behind bars unless they bow to his draconian censorship demands.
“This outrageous act of tyranny has forced ๐ to take the drastic step of shutting down its operations in Brazil, not out of fear, but to safeguard their team from the clutches of such judicial overreach. This is a dark day for democracy in Brazil, where a judge’s gavel swings like a dictator’s fist.”
Musk responded, “He is indeed a tyrant.”
He is indeed a tyrant
โ Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024
๐ is the #1 news app in Brazil on the AppStore.
Alexandre de Moraes is demanding censorship of the only source of truth in Brazil. pic.twitter.com/raNc2v9y29
โ DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) August 17, 2024
Alexandre de Moraes threatened to arrest ๐’s legal representative in Brazil if they do not comply with his censorship orders.
To protect the staff, ๐ has decided to close its operations in Brazil immediately, though the ๐ app will remain available. pic.twitter.com/4JSO2RSrL9
โ DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) August 17, 2024
X closes Brazilian office after judge threatens arrests over censorship orders https://t.co/349OlH7q5P
โ FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) August 18, 2024
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