2024-08-18 18:14:46
The X social network said today that it is “immediately” and completely suspending its activities in Brazil due to “censorship orders” made by Brazilian judge Alessandre de Moraes, Reuters reported.
The X platform, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, claims that Moraes threatened one of the company’s legal representatives in Brazil with arrest if he did not comply with a court order to remove certain content from the social network. X also published photos of a document allegedly signed by Moraes. The document says that Rachel Nova Conceicao, the legal representative of Musk’s company, will be fined 20,000 reais ($3,653) a day and that a warrant will be issued for his arrest if the platform does not fully comply with Moraes’ regulations. writes BTA.
“We have decided to immediately suspend our operations in Brazil to protect the safety of our staff,” X said in a statement.
Brazil’s Supreme Court declined to comment on the case to Reuters and said it would neither confirm nor deny the document’s authenticity.
Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts in connection with an investigation into the so-called “digital militias” that were accused of spreading fake news and messages of hate during the rule of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
Moraes also launched an investigation into Musk after the billionaire said he would reactivate X accounts that had been blocked by court order.
Musk today called Moraes “a complete disgrace to justice” and emphasized that his company could not agree to the judge’s demands for “secret censorship and the transfer of personal information.”