AENN
Aug. 30, 2024 3:40 pm
In a new chapter on escalating authoritarianism in Brazil, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes suspended Twitter/X in the country on Friday, 30.
Moraes summoned Elon Musk directly on the social network, demanding he appoint a representative of the big tech company in Brazil. However, Musk did not comply. Amidst the case, Moraes ordered the blocking of Starlink accounts in Brazil—also owned by Musk—under the pretext of ensuring payment of fines levied against X.
The justice ordered Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency to be immediately notified and take all necessary steps to halt X’s operations in the country.
Moraes also issued orders to Apple and Google, given that their mobile devices run on iOS and Android operating systems. According to the justice, these companies must remove the X app from their stores.
Additionally, there are restrictions concerning VPN services. The Supreme Court justice’s ruling specifically mentioned Proton VPN, Express VPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, TOTALVPN, Atlas VPN, and Bitdefender VPN. De Moraes imposed fines of up to $8,874 a day for any user found using VPNs in Brazil.
Yesterday, Twitter/X warned that the Supreme Court justice would take down the platform. The company explained that this would occur because X refused to comply with his unlawful orders.
X stated:
“Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents. These enemies include a duly elected Senator and a 16-year-old girl, among others.
When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts. Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him.
We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.
In the days to come, we will publish all of Judge de Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency.
Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders.
To our users in Brazil and around the world, X remains committed to protecting your freedom of speech.”
Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents. These enemies include a duly elected Senator and a 16-year-old girl, among others.
When we attempted…
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) August 29, 2024
Moreover, according to X, the company will publish “all of the minister’s unlawful demands and all related court documents for the sake of transparency.”
The takedown of Twitter/X is yet another chapter in the ongoing clash between Moraes and Musk, which began in the wake of the Twitter Files Brazil leaks.
Recently, leaked messages reported by Folha de S.Paulo revealed that Moraes used the structure of the Superior Electoral Court, where he was president, to bolster investigations in the Supreme Court and pursue opponents of former conservative President Jair Bolsonaro.
