X to cease operations in Brazil amid ongoing legal dispute

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, said it was closing operations in Brazil, citing threats from Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The decision on Saturday comes after X reported a "secret order" from Moraes, who allegedly threatened to arrest the company's legal representative in Brazil if the platform did not comply with demands related to content moderation.

In a statement by X's Global Government Affairs, the company said that despite numerous appeals to the Brazilian Supreme Court, its concerns had gone unheard.

"Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard, the Brazilian public not being informed about these orders, and our Brazilian staff having no responsibility or control over whether the content is blocked on our platform, Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process."

"As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately."

However, the X service will remain accessible to users in Brazil.

"We are deeply saddened that we have been forced to make this decision. The responsibility lies solely with Alexandre de Moraes. His actions are incompatible with democratic government," the statement concluded.

'Operational faults'

Moraes opened an inquiry earlier this year into billionaire Elon Musk after he said he would reactivate accounts on X that the judge had ordered blocked.

Musk has called the Moraes' decisions regarding X "unconstitutional."

After Musk's challenges, X representatives reversed course and told Brazil's Supreme Court that the social media giant would comply with the legal rulings.

Lawyers representing X in Brazil in April told the Supreme Court that "operational faults" have allowed users who were ordered blocked to stay active on the social media platform, after Moraes had asked X to explain why it allegedly had not fully complied with his decisions.