Summary:
- X, formerly Twitter, has ceased operations in Brazil, citing censorship.
- The platform claims its legal representative was threatened with arrest by Judge Alexandre de Moraes.
- X’s service remains available in Brazil, but the company will no longer operate in the country.
Media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, announced on Saturday that it would immediately cease its operations in Brazil, alleging that the decision was prompted by “censorship orders” from Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes. The company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, claimed that Moraes had secretly threatened one of its South American legal representatives, Rachel Nova Conceicao, with arrest if X did not comply with legal demands to remove specific content from the platform.
In a statement, X shared images of a document it claims was signed by Moraes, which outlined a daily fine of 20,000 reais ($3,653) and an arrest warrant for Conceicao if the platform did not fully comply with the judge’s directives. “To protect the safety of our staff, we have decided to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately,” the company said. Despite ceasing operations, X confirmed that its service would remain available to users in Brazil.
The Brazilian Supreme Court, where Judge Moraes serves, declined to comment on the matter and did not confirm or deny the authenticity of the document shared by X. The controversy follows previous incidents earlier this year when Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts as part of an investigation into “digital militias” accused of spreading fake news and hate speech during the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Musk has publicly criticized Moraes’ decisions, labeling them “unconstitutional.”
After initial resistance to the rulings, X’s representatives later assured Brazil’s Supreme Court that the company would comply with the legal orders. However, operational issues allegedly allowed some users, who were supposed to be blocked, to remain active on the platform, leading to further scrutiny. Musk responded to the ongoing legal challenges by calling Judge Moraes an “utter disgrace to justice” in a post on X, asserting that the company could not agree to what he described as “secret censorship and private information handover demands.”
