X Announces that it is shutting down operations in Brazil

The social networking site X, which was formerly known as Twitter, announced today that it is closing its offices in Brazil but that users in that country would still be able to access the service. The news coincides with a legal dispute between the Brazilian Supreme Court's Justice Alexandre de Moraes and X, where the latter is looking into "digital militias" and election disinformation. He is attempting to restrict specific X accounts.

The company alleged that Moraes had "threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders" in a post from X's worldwide government affairs account.

The business went on, "As a result, we have decided to close our activity in Brazil, effective immediately, to ensure the safety of our workforce. The Brazilian people can still access the X service. X stated in a previous post that "a pastor, a current Parliamentarian, and the wife of a former Parliamentarian" are among the targeted accounts. When the owner of X declared he would disobey a court ruling by removing limitations on selected accounts, Moraes launched a criminal investigation into Elon Musk earlier this year. Subsequently, the business appeared to change its mind and declared that it would really block the accounts.

Moraes has come under fire and calls for his impeachment have come from supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, the former far-right president of Brazil. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 election, and the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil barred him from running for office for eight years on the grounds that he attempted to taint the results of the election by claiming fraud. Bolsonaro and Musk met in Brazil in 2022, and Musk also stated that Moraes “should resign or be impeached.”