The service previously known as Twitter is ending all business operations in Brazil effective immediately after it claims Alexandre de Moraes, the president of the Superior Electoral Court and a justice of the Supreme Federal Court, threatened to arrest one of the company’s legal representatives if they did not “comply with his censorship orders.”The X Global Government Affairs account posted about the incident on X, saying that the threat was made in a secret order; however, it’s sharing the request “to expose his actions.”
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The company is reportedly closing down its operations in Brazil “to protect the safety” of X’s staff, though the service will still be available in the region.De Moraes reportedly asked X to remove certain content from its site, which the company refused. In a tweet, X owner Elon Musk says that complying with the order “would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law.
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The Global Affairs post also took a swipe at de Moraes: “We are deeply saddened that we have been forced to make this decision. The responsibility lies solely with Alexandre de Moraes,” it reads. “His actions are incompatible with democratic government. The people of Brazil have a choice to make—democracy or Alexandre de Moraes.”
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The move comes after several months of back and forth between de Moraes and Musk. In April, the US House Judiciary Committee released a report that said the Brazilian government was trying to force social media platforms, including X, to censor more than 300 accounts, including those belonging to Brazil’s previous president, Jair Bolsonaro.
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