Web Desk
Aug 18, 2024
Elon Musk-owned microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) is reportedly suspending operations in Brazil but its access to users in the country will remain intact.
The platform says that the President Superior Electoral Court and a justice of the Supreme Federal Court Alexandre de Moraes threatened a legal representative of X with arrest if it failed to "comply with his censorship orders," as reported by Engadget.
Citing sources, the publication outlined some demands made by de Moraes for specific content's removal from the platform. "To protect the safety" of its staff, X opted to close its operations in the country instead of fulfilling the demands.
With the demands made in a "secret order," which was publicised, Elon Musk said that "would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law.
"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," he added.
"Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard, the Brazilian public not being informed about these orders and our Brazilian staff having no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on our platform, Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process," stated a post shared from X's Global Government Affairs account on the platform.
Claiming they were unconstitutional, Musk In April announced to negate any orders from the legislator to block certain accounts in Brazil. These remarks resulted in the initiation of a judicial inquiry against Musk, which was opened by de Moraes.
