The social networking site claimed that Alexandre de Moraes, a judge on Brazil’s highest court, had threatened to imprison its Brazilian legal counsel unless the latter complied with what he called “censorship orders.”
The highest court in Brazil has remained silent.
Elon Musk’s platform, which is worth billions of dollars, confirmed on Saturday that X is still accessible to Brazilians.
Mr. Moraes has directed the blocking of X accounts while they are being investigated for deception. Among these accounts are numerous supporters of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsanaro.
Following Musk’s criticism of Mr. Moraes, the judge fined X 100,000 reais ($19,774; £15,670) each day for every account that was reactivated and emphasized that the Brazilian representatives of the firm may be held legally liable in such a case.
Furthermore, he initiated an investigation against Mr. Musk on allegations of obstruction of justice, among others.
Instead of respecting the law, Mr. Moraes has opted to intimidate Brazilian personnel, despite X’s assurance that they have no authority or control over whether content is prohibited.
“As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately,” said the president.
“The responsibility lies solely with Alexandre de Moraes.”A democratic government cannot tolerate his behavior.
“No question that Moraes needs to leave” was Musk’s post on X.
He went on to say that closing the Brazil office was a “difficult” decision, but that the corporation would have been humiliated to comply with Mr. Moraes’ “demands” if it had.
Those who supported former president Bolsonaro despise Mr. Moraes. Some of the president’s friends were investigated by him when he was president.
Investigative probe on Musk launched by Brazil’s highest court
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