Several high-profile accounts remain “withheld,” i.e., inaccessible in Brazil, despite the latest developments in the clash between X and Brazil’s judicial authorities.
Over the weekend, X announced that it was closing its operations in Brazil – the latest stage in the ever-escalating dispute over censorship in that country, ongoing for several years now.
At the center of the massive controversy are what X considers censorship orders issued by Alexandre de Moraes, president of Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court and a Supreme Federal Court justice.
On Saturday, X said that while it was shutting down operations in the country because of unwillingness to comply with the orders, the platform would continue to be available to people there.
However, X is continuing to “withhold” accounts belonging to journalist Guilherme Fiuza (@GFiuza_Oficial), journalist Allan dos Santos (@allanldsantos), journalist Rodrigo Constantino (@Rconstantino), and podcaster Monark (@monark).
Santos’ account was first blocked in April of this year, while the others saw the same fate in January 2023. The accounts can be accessed from outside Brazil.
All four are among prominent opponents of the current authorities, however, Moraes insists his orders – that are supposed to be kept secret, but which X has consistently been making public – have to do with curbing misinformation and “protecting democracy.”
X, on the other hand, insists that these violate Brazil’s own laws and has repeatedly stated it would not comply.
The announcement on Saturday said that what triggered the decision to close operations in Brazil was a threat from Moraes that X employees would be arrested because of the social media company’s decision to defy censorship demands.
This time, once again, Moraes made the threat through what was supposed to be another secret order, but X once again decided to expose it.
In the past, X owner Elon Musk said that the company might have to withdraw from Brazil because the secret orders to block popular accounts, on top of everything, did not provide any details explaining the demands.
It now remains to be seen if Musk will make good on the promise from April, when he said that “all restrictions would be lifted.”
