Owner of X Corp. Elon Musk said on the platform Saturday evening that the company had decided to lift all restrictions on Brazilian accounts targeted by an order from the nation's Supreme Court.
“We are lifting all restrictions. This judge has applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to 𝕏 in Brazil. As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit,” Mr. Musk posted, notifying of X's decision.
The announcement came in response to reporting by investigative journalist Michael Shellenberger, and colleagues David Ágape and Eli Vieira, titled, “TWITTER FILES BRAZIL.”
In his reporting, Mr. Shellenberger cites records released by X, formerly Twitter, during Mr. Musk's 2022 takeover that allegedly show that “Brazil is engaged in a sweeping crackdown on free speech led by a Supreme Court justice.”
He named lower house members Carla Zambelli of former President Jair Bolsonaro's Liberal Party and Marcel van Hattem of the NOVO party as targets of orders targeting posts the court deemed misinformation.
According to the internal files Mr. Shellenberger shared, Twitter in Brazil was threatened with a $30,000 fine. The company had one hour to remove the Congress members' posts or pay the court for noncompliance.
The article reports that the justice had even been jailing individuals without trial for things posted on social media.
The origin of the order to censor Brazilians’ posts was also revealed in the internal Twitter files, Mr. Shellenberger said.
Mr. Shellenberger said Justice de Moraes, Brazil’s Supreme Court (Supreme Federal Court), and Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) declined to respond to the report.
Last year, Justice de Moraes also ordered an investigation into executives at social messaging platform Telegram and Alphabet's Google, who were in charge of a campaign criticizing a proposed internet regulation bill.
'Aggressive Censorship'
Mr. Musk said of Brazil's Twitter Files, which he released to Mr. Shellenberger, “This aggressive censorship appears to violate the law & will of the people of Brazil.”He had replied to an earlier post urging X not to comply with the court order, saying that the independent platforms Rumble and Locals did not comply.
“You're powerful enough to make a difference,” he said.
Mr. Musk describes himself as a free speech absolutist. He said at the time when he bought Twitter that it was to create a platform where “a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.”