Elon Musk shuts down Brazilian office amid censorship row
Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the media platform X, announced on Saturday that he closed the Brazilian office of his social networking site. This decision was prompted by the "censorship" orders issued by Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes.
10:01 AM EDT, August 19, 2024
On Saturday, August 17th, the social networking site X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, closed its office in Brazil with immediate effect. Representatives of X claim that the decision is the result of threats from a government official.
This decision is the aftermath of pressure from Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. The official allegedly threatened to arrest "X" representative Rachel Nova Conceicao if the platform did not comply with legal orders to remove content from the internet.
The decision to close the X office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandre's (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed - Elon Musk wrote on the X platform.
Brazilian judge Moraes supposedly compelled social media to suspend accounts and posts spreading content that he deemed a threat to Brazilian democracy. His orders are usually secretive and do not explain why a particular account was suspended.
His orders were directed mainly against right-wing supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. It primarily involved people who questioned Bolsonaro's defeat in the 2022 elections and sympathized with the protesters who stormed the Brazilian Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential offices to force a military takeover.
These actions have made Judge Moraes one of the most influential and polarizing figures in Brazil. The left sees him as a hero, and the right sees him as a censor acting unlawfully and exploiting his position as a Supreme Court judge.
The platform "X" confirmed that its service will remain available to users in Brazil. The company did not disclose how many people it employs in Brazil or whether the closure of the office resulted in job losses.
