• A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has threatened to shut down X’s operations in the country unless its owner Elon Musk appoints legal representation in Brazil within 24 hours.
  • Earlier this year, the company clashed with de Moraes over free speech, accounts linked to the far right, and misinformation on the platform.

OUR TAKE
De Moraes in April ordered an investigation into Musk’s dissemination of defamatory fake news and a separate investigation into possible obstruction, incitement and criminal organization. This can be seen in the Brazilian government’s attitude towards strengthening the control of online platforms. Freedom of speech is not an unlimited right, and online platforms also need to assume corresponding responsibilities.
— Iydia Ding, BTW reporter

What happened

On Wednesday, a justice of Brazil’s Supreme Court threatened to shut down the local operations of X, formerly Twitter, unless its billionaire owner Elon Musk appoints a legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours. Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ order is the latest development in an ongoing dispute with Musk’s platform. Earlier this year, the company clashed with de Moraes over free speech, accounts linked to the far right and misinformation on the platform, and claimed it was a victim of censorship.

Earlier this month, X said it would remove all remaining Brazilian employees “with immediate effect” and said De Moraes had threatened to arrest its legal representative in the country. The Supreme Court notified X de Moraes of the order on Wednesday in response to a post on the social platform from the company’s global government affairs account. In a statement, the court said: “If the ruling is not complied with, the decision could lead to the suspension of the activities of the social media network in Brazil.”

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Why it’s important

In the United States, freedom of speech is a constitutional right that is much less generous than in many countries, including Brazil. De Moraes in April ordered an investigation into Musk’s dissemination of defamatory fake news and a separate investigation into possible obstruction, incitement and criminal organization. Brazil’s political right has long described de Moraes as an overreach crackdown on free speech and a witch hunt. His defenders say he acted legally, at least with the support of a majority of the Supreme Court, and protected democracy at a time when it was under threat.

Freedom of speech is not an unlimited right, it needs to be exercised under the premise of not violating the provisions of the law and not harming the legitimate rights and interests of others. Freedom of speech on the Internet platform is an important part of the development of the Internet, it provides people with the space to express views and exchange ideas, but the Internet platform also needs to assume the corresponding responsibility, through technical means and management measures to prevent and reduce the occurrence of network violence and other bad behaviors.