The closure was the apparent culmination of an ongoing legal battle between Elon Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes.
| Photo Credit: AP

“Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) will shutter its local operations in Brazil following a bitter legal tussle over the platform’s rights and responsibilities,” owner Elon Musk said on Saturday (August 17, 2024).

The service will remain available to Brazilian users.

The closure was the apparent culmination of an ongoing legal battle between Mr. Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who has said he is trying to fight the spread of dangerous disinformation online.

Also Read: Brazil’s SC says “every company is subject to constitution” amid inquiry against Musk for refusing to block accounts on X 

A post Saturday (August 17, 2024) from X’s Global Government Affairs department said Mr. Moraes had “threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders.”

It said the office closure was necessary “to protect the safety of our staff,” adding, “the responsibility lies solely with Alexandre de Moraes.”

The Brazilian Government was critical of X’s stance, with Secretary of Digital Policies Joao Brant writing on the platform that the company had a “pathetic attitude.”

He added that X would force a “probable escalation that could lead to blocking of the platform.”

Moraes previously had ordered the suspension of several Twitter accounts suspected of spreading disinformation, including those of supporters of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who tried to discredit the voting system in the 2022 presidential election, which he lost.

Also Read: X owner Elon Musk uses his ’free speech’ platform to amplify his views worldwide

“Freedom of expression doesn’t mean freedom of aggression,” Mr. Moraes has said. “It doesn’t mean the freedom to defend tyranny.”

Mr. Moraes has spearheaded the battle against disinformation in South America’s largest nation.

He presides over Brazil’s Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), and last year it declared Bolsonaro ineligible to run again for office, saying he had disseminated false information about the electoral system.

Musk and other critics have said Mr. Moraes is part of a sweeping crackdown on free speech.

The CEO said Saturday (August 17, 2024) that had X complied with Mr. Moraes’s orders, “there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed.”

In April, Mr. Moraes ordered an investigation of Musk. An order seen by AFP showed Moraes accusing Musk of “criminal instrumentalization” of the platform.

Mr. Moraes said Musk had reactivated banned accounts, and he threatened the billionaire with a fine of about $20,000 for each instance. “Social networks are not lands without laws,” Mr. Moraes wrote.

Musk responded that while X might lose its Brazilian revenue, “principles matter more than profit.”

Musk, in posts on X, called Moraes an “utter disgrace to justice” and said the company could not have agreed to the judge’s “secret censorship and private information handover demands.” File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Media platform X said on Saturday it would close its operations in Brazil “effective immediately” due to what it called “censorship orders” by Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes.

X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, claims Moraes secretly threatened one of the company’s legal representatives in the South American country with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content from its platform.

The social media giant published pictures of a document allegedly signed by Moraes which says a daily fine of 20,000 reais ($3,653) and an arrest decree would be imposed against X representative Rachel Nova Conceicao if the platform did not fully comply to Moraes’ orders.

“To protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately,” X said.

Brazil’s Supreme Court, where Moraes has a seat, told Reuters it would not speak on the matter and would not confirm nor deny the authenticity of the document shared by X.

The X service remains available to the people of Brazil, the platform said on Saturday.

Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts, as he investigates so-called “digital militias” that have been accused of spreading fake news and hate messages during the government of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Moraes opened an inquiry earlier this year into the billionaire after Musk said he would reactivate accounts on X that the judge had ordered blocked. Musk has called the Moraes’ decisions regarding X “unconstitutional.”

After Musk’s challenges, X representatives reversed course and told Brazil’s Supreme Court that the social media giant would comply with the legal rulings.

Lawyers representing X in Brazil in April told the Supreme Court that “operational faults” have allowed users who were ordered blocked to stay active on the social media platform, after Moraes had asked X to explain why it allegedly had not fully complied with his decisions.

Musk, in posts on X on Saturday, called Moraes an “utter disgrace to justice” and said the company could not have agreed to the judge’s “secret censorship and private information handover demands.”