Social media giant X has made the decision to close its offices in Brazil following legal threats from Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes. The company stated that executives felt "forced to make this decision" after de Moraes threatened arrests if the platform did not remove content deemed problematic by the Brazilian government.
In a statement released on the platform, X's Global Government Affairs office revealed that de Moraes had threatened their legal representative in Brazil with arrest if they did not comply with censorship orders. The company also shared a secret order issued by de Moraes to expose his actions.
Earlier this year, de Moraes had ordered X to take down specific accounts, accusing the platform of harboring "digital militias" spreading misinformation and hateful material about former President Jair Bolsonaro. Despite appeals to the Supreme Court and claims of operational faults that made it impossible to comply with the orders, X ultimately decided to close its operations in Brazil to protect the safety of its staff.
X owner Elon Musk took to social media to express his disappointment in de Moraes' actions, calling him an "utter disgrace to justice." Musk stated that if X had agreed to de Moraes' demands, there would be no way to explain their actions without feeling ashamed.
Despite the closure of X's offices in Brazil, Musk assured that citizens would still be able to access the social media platform. The company had previously assured the Supreme Court of Brazil that it would comply with legal rulings ordering the censorship of problematic accounts, but ultimately found it impossible to do so due to what they described as operational faults.