America First Legal (AFL) initiated an investigative probe on September 12, 2024, into potential complicity between the Biden-Harris Administration and the Brazilian government in censoring speech on social media. This scrutiny targets the involvement of the US Department of State, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the US Department of Commerce, marking a significant escalation in efforts to defend digital expression rights.
This investigation is partly propelled by concerns that arose after the Biden-Harris White House introduced the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism in June 2021. The strategy vowed to combat “disinformation,” particularly narratives suggesting electoral fraud in the 2020 US elections. It also outlined plans for international cooperation with governments, tech firms, and NGOs to eliminate terrorist content online.
We obtained a copy of the requests for you here.
Tensions escalated in July 2021 when CIA Director William Burns, conveying a directive from the White House, met with then-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Burns urged Bolsonaro to refrain from questioning Brazil’s electronic voting integrity and to cease spreading voter fraud claims.
As the 2022 Brazilian elections neared, Brazil’s electoral authority, under Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Court, took unprecedented steps. Moraes was granted the authority to command tech companies to delete content deemed misleading by the electoral court, leading to the removal of several posts by Bolsonaro himself.
Insights from knowledgeable sources suggest that US diplomatic pressures were crucial in shaping these events.
By August 2024, Justice Moraes had extended his reach, blocking the American social media platform X throughout Brazil and imposing hefty fines on users accessing the platform. The current administration’s influence was further underscored with the appointment of Elizabeth F. Bagley, a Democratic stalwart and a seasoned diplomat from previous Democratic administrations, as the new US Ambassador to Brazil.
