Elon Musk says closing Brazil X office was ‘difficult,’ would be ‘ashamed’ if agreed to censorship, information demands

X announced it would withdraw all staff from Brazil "effective immediately," and cease operations due to threats from Moraes to arrest its legal representative

Published on: Aug 18, 2024, 11:26:35 IST

By HT News Desk | Edited by Abhyjith K. Ashokan

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It was a “difficult" decision to shut down local operations of X (Formerly Twitter) in Brazil, X owner Elon Musk said on Saturday, August 18, 2024.

Elon Musk said Moraes “is an utter disgrace to justice.”

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“The decision to close the 𝕏 office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandre’s (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed,” Musk wrote in a post on X.

Why did X shut down local operations in Brazil?

X was involved in a legal tussle on censorship and demands to handover private information with Brazilian Superior Electoral Court President and Supreme Federal Court justice Alexandre de Moraes.

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The social media platform thus, announced on Saturday that it would withdraw all staff from Brazil "effective immediately," and cease operations due to threats from Moraes to arrest its legal representative.

However, X also added that Brazilian users can still access the service.

Why did X land in legal troubles in Brazil?

Moraes launched an investigation on X and Elon Musk over allegedly spreading misinformation and another inquiry into potential obstruction, incitement, and criminal organization.

He had previously ordered the suspension of multiple Twitter accounts suspected of spreading misinformation. These included supporters of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who tried to discredit the voting system used for the 2022 presidential election, in which he lost.

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“Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process,” the company said in a statement on X. Musk said de Moraes “is an utter disgrace to justice.”

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HT News Desk
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