Social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, announced it would close its operations in Brazil immediately due to “censorship orders” from Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, Reuters reports.
The platform claims that Moraes had secretly threatened one of its legal representatives with arrest if the platform did not comply with orders to remove certain content. The company shared a document allegedly signed by Moraes, which detailed a daily fine of 20,000 reais ($3,653) and an arrest decree for X representative Rachel Nova Conceicao if compliance was not met. To protect its staff, X decided to shut down its operations in the country but will continue to provide service to Brazilian users.
Moraes had previously instructed X to block certain accounts as part of an investigation into “digital militias” accused of spreading misinformation during former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. Musk criticized Moraes’ decisions as unconstitutional and challenged the judge’s decisions. Despite initial resistance, X’s representatives eventually told Brazil’s Supreme Court they would comply with legal rulings earlier this year.
