The Facts
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the country's telecommunications regulator to suspend users' access to X (formerly Twitter) on Friday after its owner, Elon Musk, refused to suspend certain accounts.
In his ruling, de Moraes said Elon Musk's refusal to comply with the court's order "showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty." This comes after Musk missed a deadline to name a legal representative after the closure of X's local office in mid-August.
The Spin
Unelected authorities in Brazil have censored and repressed anyone opposing leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his allies ever since right-wing Jair Bolsonaro was in office. Blocking X nationwide is the latest — and certainly the most significant so far — attack against free speech in what was once a democratic country — and certainly the most significant so far.
Social media companies must have a legal representative in Brazil to handle government takedown notices, so this ban is only natural after removingX removed all its employees from the country. This decision has nothing to do with free speech but everything to do with national sovereignty. XMusk's social media platform is merely a coup machine serving US interests in the Global South.
