X pulls out of Brazil

Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has announced the suspension of operations in Brazil, citing the Brazilian Supreme Court’s alleged censorship orders, which the company refuses to comply with.

Earlier this year, Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of multiple accounts allegedly belonging to “digital militants” – a group of influential people associated with the right-wing former president, Jair Bolsonaro. 

The group was accused of spreading disinformation about members of the Supreme Court. Musk threatened to “lift all restrictions,” arguing that the ruling represents “the most draconian demands of any country on Earth,” and called for the judge’s resignation.

In a statement published on the platform on Saturday, the X Global Government Affairs team claimed that Alexandre de Moraes, acting in secret, threatened a legal representative of the company with arrest if the social media giant did not adhere to the court orders. X also shared a picture of a document allegedly signed by Moraes, which stated that an arrest warrant would be issued against Rachel Nova Conceicao, in addition to a daily fine of 20,000 Brazilian reals ($3,650).