SOCIAL media giant X has announced it will shutter its operations in Brazil following a legal tussle with a top Brazilian judge over the platform’s rights and responsibilities to counter disinformation.
The platform, previously known as Twitter, said on Saturday the shutdown was “effective immediately” but that Brazilian users would still have access to X.
“We are deeply saddened that we have been forced to make this decision,” the company said, adding that responsibility for the decision “lies solely” with Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes.
The move is the apparent culmination of a continuing legal battle between Moraes, who has said he is trying to fight the spread of disinformation online, and Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X.
Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts accused of spreading false news and hate messages, including some belonging to supporters of Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro repeatedly peddled false claims that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud before a tightly contested 2022 election.
Months after he was defeated by left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a mob of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the top state institutions in the South American country in anger over the results.
“Freedom of expression doesn’t mean freedom of aggression,” Moraes, who presides over Brazil’s Superior Electoral Tribunal, has said.
“It doesn’t mean the freedom to defend tyranny.”
On Saturday, X claimed Moraes secretly threatened one of the company’s legal representatives in Brazil with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content from its platform.
