Twitter (formerly Twitter) announces it will shut down operations in Brazil to fight censorship by Brazilian Supreme Court judge



X (formerly Twitter) has announced that it will close its operations in Brazil, but Brazilian X users will still be able to use the service.

X says it's closing operations in Brazil | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/17/x-says-its-closing-operations-in-brazil/



In April 2024, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered X to block certain accounts. Initially, X complied with the Brazilian Supreme Court's order, but because it was unclear why the block order was issued and which posts violated the law, X filed an appeal against the order. X's Elon Musk then revealed that the order was issued by Judge Alexandre de Moraes, after stating, 'It is forbidden to state which court or judge issued this order and on what basis.'

Elon Musk challenges Brazilian Supreme Court decision ordering blocking of certain accounts on X (formerly Twitter) - GIGAZINE



In response, Brazil's Supreme Court announced that Musk would be investigated for obstructing justice.

Elon Musk of X (formerly Twitter) is being investigated by the Brazilian Supreme Court for allegedly obstructing justice, due to ignoring the Supreme Court's orders - GIGAZINE


By Daniel Oberhaus

X was engaged in a legal battle with Judge Moraes over this matter, and on August 17, 2024, one of X's official accounts, @GlobalAffairs , which covers government-related issues, announced that it would end its operations in Brazil in response to Judge Moraes' illegal censorship.

X wrote, 'Last night, Judge Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we did not comply with his censorship order. He did this with a secret order, but we are clarifying the facts in this post to make his actions clear. Our multiple appeals to the Supreme Court have gone unheard, and the Brazilian people remain in the dark about these orders. Judge Moraes has begun threatening to arrest employees in our Brazilian office, without respect for the law or due process, even though X employees in Brazil have no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on the platform. Therefore, to protect the safety of our employees, we have decided to immediately terminate our operations in Brazil. X's services will continue to be available to the people of Brazil, but we are deeply saddened that we have been forced to make this decision. All responsibility lies with Judge Alexandre de Moraes. His actions are incompatible with democratic politics. The Brazilian people are being forced to choose between democracy and Judge Alexandre de Moraes. I do not believe that Judge Moraes, as the legal representative of Brazil, needs to censor X.'




Musk also commented on the closure of the Brazilian office, saying, 'The decision to close X's offices in Brazil was difficult, but we could not explain this action without shame if we had agreed to Judge Moraes' (illegal) secret inspection and extradition requests.'




In addition, on August 14, 2024, X revealed what kind of accounts 'Judge Moraes had secretly requested censorship of,' revealing that the accounts targeted were popular in Brazil, including pastors, members of parliament, and the wives of former members of parliament.




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