X Announces Its Shutdown of Operations in Brazil

X, the platform previously known as Twitter, today announced its cessation of operations in Brazil. However, the platform will remain accessible to Brazilian users.

This development occurs in the midst of a contentious legal dispute with Alexandre de Moraes, a Justice at Brazil’s Supreme Court, who has been actively seeking to suspend certain profiles on X as part of a broader probe into electoral misinformation and “digital militias.”

In a statement conveyed throughits global government affairs account, X disclosed that Justice Moraes has “issued threats of imprisonment against our legal representative in Brazil should we fail to comply with his orders to censor.”

In a clandestine directive last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with incarceration should we not adhere to his censorship commands. Here, we divulge his mandate to shed light on his behaviour.

Despite our repeated appeals to the Supreme Court going unheard,… pic.twitter.com/Pm2ovyydhE

— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) August 17, 2024

The company further elaborated that, “For the safety of our employees, we are compelled to shut down our Brazilian operation with immediate effect. Nevertheless, the Brazilian populace will continue to have access to the X service.”

In an earlier announcement, X identified several of the accounts targeted by these actions, mentioning “a clergyman, a current Member of Parliament, and a former Parliamentarian’s spouse” among them.

Previously in the year, after the owner of X announced intentions to defy a court mandate against certain profiles, Moraes initiated a criminal investigation into Elon Musk. The firm then appeared to change its stance, agreeing to restrict the accounts.

Critics of Brazil’s former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, including his supporters, have assailed Moraes and advocated for his impeachment. Following his defeat in the 2022 elections, the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil has barred Bolsonaro from pursuing office for a duration of eight years over allegations of electoral fraud.

In 2022, Musk visited Brazil and met with Bolsonaro, later stating that Moraes “ought to either resign or be impeached”.

In its latest communication, X has emphasized that “our team in Brazil bears no responsibility or influence over the decision to block content on our platform” and highlighted that “it is up to the Brazilian people to choose between democracy and Alexandre de Moraes.”