X ends operations in Brazil, denouncing Supreme Court 'censorship'

Photo: Jordan Strauss Invision via Associated Press Elon Musk's company has not said how it plans to suspend operations while continuing to provide services.

Associated Press in Mexico

Published yesterday at 6:24 p.m.

• Americas

Social media company X announced Saturday that it would cease operations in Brazil, saying that the country's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had threatened to arrest its legal representative in the South American country if he did not comply with his orders.

X is withdrawing all remaining Brazilian staff in the country “immediately.” The company has said the service will continue to be available to the Brazilian population. Elon Musk’s company has not said how it plans to suspend operations while continuing to provide services.

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Earlier this year, the company clashed with Mr. de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and disinformation on X. The digital platform said its most recent orders amounted to censorship and shared a copy of the document on X.

The Supreme Court’s press office did not immediately respond to emailed requests from The Associated Press for comment or to confirm the document’s veracity.

In the United States, free speech is a much more permissive constitutional right than in many countries, including Brazil, where Judge de Moraes in April ordered an investigation into Elon Musk for spreading defamatory false news and another for potential obstruction, incitement and criminal organization.

Brazil’s political right has long accused Mr. de Moraes of overstepping his bounds to suppress free speech and engage in political persecution.

From investigating former President Jair Bolsonaro to banning his far-right allies from social media to ordering the arrests of supporters who stormed government buildings on January 8, 2023, Mr. de Moraes has aggressively pursued those he sees as undermining Brazil’s young democracy.

“Mr. Moraes has chosen to threaten our people in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process,” the company said in a statement posted on X.

In a tweet Saturday morning, self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” and X owner Elon Musk added that Mr. de Moraes “is a complete disgrace to the justice system.”