According to X, Moraes secretly threatened one of their legal representatives with arrest if certain content was not removed. Musk called the court rulings related to X’s operation unconstitutional.
Moraes launched an investigation into Musk earlier this year after noticing that the platform was reactivating accounts that had been banned by a judge..
Lawyers representing X in Brazil told the Supreme Court in April that “operational errors” allowed banned users to remain active on the social media platform. They spoke after Moraes asked X to explain why it had not fully complied with its decisions — Adds A. The Guardian.
Photo: EPA/Ludovic Marin
“We are deeply saddened to have to make this decision,” the company said, adding that Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes was “solely” responsible for the decision. He writes The island.
The move comes as a culmination of an ongoing legal battle between Moraes, who says he is fighting the spread of misinformation online, and Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X. Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts, including those belonging to supporters of former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Months after Bolsonaro was defeated by leftist presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, crowds of Bolsonaro supporters stormed key state institutions in the South American country to protest the results.
“Freedom of expression does not mean freedom of aggression,” said Moraes, who heads Brazil's highest electoral court.
Due to demands of “justice” @Alexander In Brazil, which requires us to (secretly) violate Brazilian, Argentine, US and international law, X has no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil.
It is a complete disgrace to justice. https://t.co/yAvX1TpuRp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024
