X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, has said it will cease operations in Brazil (closing local offices) but that the service will remain available for users in the South American state.
The reason is once again a mix of politics and the control of fake news: the announcement comes after the censorship orders by the Federal Supreme Court judge Alexandre Moraeswith the latter requesting the blocking of some X accounts as part of an investigation into “digital militias” and election-related disinformation.
The X Global Government Affairs Practices account explains that its legal representative in Brazil has been threatened with arrest if the censorship order is not complied with: “…as a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have decided to close operations in Brazil with immediate effect. The X service will remain available to the people of Brazil.”
In a previous post, X has indicated some of the disputed accounts, explaining that these include: “A priest, a sitting MP and the wife of a former MP”.
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,… pic.twitter.com/Pm2ovyydhE
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) August 17, 2024
Earlier this year, Moraes had launched a criminal investigation into Elon Musk after the latter had opposed a court decision to impose restrictions on some accounts. The company later decided to reverse course and block the “incriminated” accounts.
Supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro have long criticized Moraes and called for his impeachment. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 election, and the year before, Moraes had accepted a request from Brazil’s Senate investigative commission, which recommended that Bolsonaro be impeached for crimes committed in his handling of the pandemic, including “crimes against humanity.”
Musk visited Brazil in 2022, met with Bolsonaro, and said Moraes should resign or be impeached. In April, in a post on X, Musk said written: “Our Brazilian staff has no responsibility or control over the content that is blocked on our platform,” further stating that “The people of Brazil must make a choice between democracy and Alexandre de Moraes.”