SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – Media platform X said today it would close its operations in Brazil “effective immediately” due to what it called “censorship orders” from Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes.
X claims Moraes secretly threatened one of its 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. Brazil’s Supreme Court, where Moraes has a seat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The X service remains available to the people of Brazil, billionaire Elon Musk’s 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.
