Brazilian Supreme Court mandated a national shutdown of X/Twitter

Last Friday, the Brazilian Supreme Court mandated a national shutdown of X/Twitter following the platform’s non-compliance with court orders to block certain users’ profiles. This action came after Twitter announced the closure of its Brazilian headquarters without appointing a legal representative. This escalated tensions with the court, particularly with Justice Alexandre de Moraes, whom Elon Musk has been openly criticizing on the platform.

The dynamics are complex: Justice Moraes has been particularly important and active in countering anti-democratic threats over recent years. There are questions about the justifiability of his practices outside these contexts and the necessary actions to validate his decisions. Mariana Valente, Assistant professor at University of St.Gallen and Director at InternetLab, São Paulo talked about this with the New York Times.