Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), recently announced that it has closed its office in Brazil immediately. This decision comes in the midst of a legal battle between X and Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
The conflict revolves around efforts by de Moraes to block certain accounts on the platform as part of an investigation into election disinformation and supposed “digital militias.” Despite closing the office, X will continue to provide its services to users in Brazil.
The dispute between X and Justice de Moraes has been growing for some time, mainly concerning issues related to free speech, far-right accounts, and misinformation on the platform. In April, de Moraes began investigating Elon Musk personally, accusing him of spreading false and defamatory information. This investigation is part of a larger probe into potential charges against Musk, including obstruction, incitement, and involvement in a criminal organization.
The situation escalated when de Moraes launched a criminal inquiry against Musk after the billionaire indicated that he would not comply with a court order to restrict certain accounts. These accounts were linked to individuals who are under investigation for spreading misinformation. However, X later appeared to change its stance, stating that it would, in fact, block the accounts as required by the court order.
X shared that some of the accounts targeted by de Moraes included a pastor, a current member of Parliament, and the wife of a former Parliamentarian. In a post from its Global Government Affairs account, X accused Justice de Moraes of threatening the company’s legal representative in Brazil with arrest if the platform did not comply with the court’s orders. X described these orders as censorship and said that the decision to close its Brazilian office was made to ensure the safety of its staff.
Musk has been vocal in his criticism of Justice de Moraes, even going so far as to compare him to Voldemort, a villain from the Harry Potter series. Musk called de Moraes “an utter disgrace to justice” and expressed that it was a tough decision to close X’s office in Brazil, but he felt it was necessary under the current circumstances.
X also posted what it claimed to be the censorship order from de Moraes on its platform, although Brazil’s Supreme Court has not yet commented on or verified the authenticity of this document.
