X owner Elon Musk announced Saturday that the social network’s Brazilian offices would close due to a standoff between the billionaire and a Brazilian Supreme Court judge.
“X has no choice but to close (its) local operations in Brazil,” wrote Elon Musk. “X service remains available for Brazilians,” said a separate company release.
The group said it was forced to take this decision because “protect security” of its staff on site.
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Arm wrestling with a Brazilian Supreme Court judge
He assured that Judge Alexandre de Moraes had “Threatened with arrest our legal representative in Brazil” in the event of non-compliance with what the social network considers to be decisions of « censure » aimed at blocking certain content.
“The decision to close X’s offices in Brazil was difficult, said Elon Musk. But if we had accepted Alexandre de Moraes’ secret (illegal) censorship and requests for the transfer of private information, we would not have been able to explain our actions without feeling ashamed.”
X’s “pathetic attitude” denounced
The Secretary of Digital Policies in the Brazilian government, Joao Brant, criticized the “pathetic attitude” of X. According to him, the social network causes a “probable escalation which could lead to the blocking of the platform.”
Alexander de Moraes “is a disgrace to justice” et “must go”, Elon Musk said. The billionaire had previously called the magistrate a “dictator”.
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Accounts of ultra-conservative figures had been suspended
In the name of the fight against disinformation, the judge has ordered in recent years the blocking of the accounts of influential figures in Brazilian ultra-conservative movements.
This is especially true since the attempts by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, an admirer of Elon Musk, to discredit the electronic voting system in the election won by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
In April, X admitted that users of several blocked accounts had managed to bypass the restrictions.
“Despite our numerous unheard appeals to the Supreme Court, a Brazilian public uninformed about these rulings, and the fact that our Brazilian staff have no responsibility or control over the content blocked on our platform,” Judge Moraes “chose to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law and its procedures,” the social network said on Saturday.
