X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, said today that it’s ending operations in Brazil, although the service will remain available to users in the country.
The announcement comes amidst a legal battle with Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who sought to block certain accounts on X as part of an investigation into election disinformation and “digital militias.”
In a post from X’s global government affairs account, the company said Moraes has “threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders.”
The company continued, “As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately. The X service remains available to the people of Brazil.”
In an earlier post, X listed some of the targeted accounts and said they include “a pastor, a current Parliamentarian, and the wife of a former Parliamentarian.”
Earlier this year, Moraes opened a criminal inquiry into Elon Musk after X’s owner said he would defy a court order by lifting restrictions on designated accounts. Then the company seemed to reverse course and said it would block the accounts after all.
Supporters of Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro have criticized Moraes and called for his impeachment. Bolsonaro lost the election in 2022, and Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court has blocked him from seeking office again for eight years, alleging that he sought to undermine the election through his claims of fraud.
Musk, who visited Brazil in 2022 and met with Bolsonaro, has also said Moraes “should resign or be impeached.”
In today’s post, X said “our Brazilian staff have no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on our platform” and that “the people of Brazil have a choice to make – democracy, or Alexandre de Moraes.”
