Elon Musk on Saturday announced that effective immediately, X will be shuttering operations in Brazil due to what it called “censorship orders” from Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes (aka ‘Darth Vader’).
According to the company, Moraes secretly threatened an X layer if he did not comply with legal orders to remove content from the platform.
“Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders. He did so in a secret order, which we share here to expose his actions,” reads a Saturday post from X’s Global Government Affairs account. “Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard, the Brazilian public not being informed about these orders and our Brazilian staff having no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on our platform, Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process.”
“As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately.”
Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders. He did so in a secret order, which we share here to expose his actions.
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) August 17, 2024
Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard,… pic.twitter.com/Pm2ovyydhE
Musk replied to the post, saying “Due to demands by “Justice” @Alexandre in Brazil that would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law, 𝕏 has no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil.
“He is an utter disgrace to Justice,” Musk continued.
Due to demands by “Justice” @Alexandre in Brazil that would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law, 𝕏 has no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024
He is an utter disgrace to justice. https://t.co/yAvX1TpuRp
According to Musk, X remains available to the people of Brazil.
Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts while he investigated so-called “digital militias” accused of spreading fake news. Moraes also opened an inquiry into Musk after he said he would reactivate X accounts that the judge had ordered blocked.
Musk has called Moraes’ orders “unconstitutional,” and called Moraes himself “Brazil’s Darth Vader.”
— Te𝕏asLindsay™ (@TexasLindsay_) April 7, 2024
In an April post to X, Musk said that Moraes had “brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil,” and should “resign or be impeached.”
De Moraes said that as part of his decision to open an inquiry, that “X shall refrain from disobeying any court order already issued, including performing any profile reactivation that has been blocked by this Supreme Court,” Reuters reported at the time.
The justice said that Musk would face a fine that equates to approximately $20,000 each time an account is reactivated on X.
BRAZIL IS ON THE BRINK
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) April 7, 2024
I’m reporting to you from Brazil, where a dramatic series of events are underway.
At 5:52 pm Eastern Time, today, April 6, 2024, X corporation, formerly known as Twitter, announced that a Brazilian court had forced it to “block certain popular accounts in… pic.twitter.com/GjdAgmkCBo
