Comment: Note that, by this point, Bolsanaro was no longer in power.
Social media platform X said Saturday (Aug 17) it was shutting down its operations in Brazil "effective immediately" following "censorship orders" from Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes.
The firm, owned by US billionaire Elon Musk, claimed its representative in the South American country was threatened by the Supreme Court judge with legal action if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content.
Comment: Bear in mind that when Musk took over X he immediately took action against the lingering issue of child abuse footage, so he's clearly not averse to reasonable requests.
"Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process," X's Global Government Affairs account posted.
"As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately," the statement added.
Musk in a post dubbed Justice Alexandre as an "utter disgrace." "Due to demands by 'Justice' Alexandre in Brazil that would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law, 𝕏 has no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil. He is an utter disgrace to justice," wrote Musk.
Dispute between X and Judge Alexandre de Moraes
Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to take down accounts accused of posting fake news and spreading hatred during the regime of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Musk called the order "unconstitutional", and moved to unblock the previously-banned accounts. Following this, Moraes ordered an enquiry into the US billionaire.
But later, an X representative told the Supreme Court that it would comply with the legal ruling and block the accounts.
But in April this year, X lawyers argued that "operational faults" allowed some banned accounts to stay afloat on the social media platform, leading to a partial implementation of the top court's order.
Comment: Is this perhaps another sign of where President Lula's allegiances lie?
It's also notable that this coercion reappears amidst a seeming, relatively sudden, crackdown by the US on alternative media operations, and analysts, with warnings made against Judge Napolitano; the harassment of Scott Ritter who has, just in the past few months, been refused leave of the country, and more recently had his home raided; whilst over in the UK there's be an alleged exodus of UK politicians from X, amidst government threats to 'regulate' free speech: