(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk’s X is closing its operations in Brazil while keeping the service available in the country, according to posts Saturday from the social-media platform.
The announcement marks the latest step in a showdown between the world’s richest man and Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is spearheading efforts to combat fake news and hate speech in Latin America’s largest economy.
“Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders,” X’s Global Government Affairs department said in an online post. “He did so in a secret order, which we share here to expose his actions.”
A spokesperson for Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court declined to comment. X replied to questions from Bloomberg with an automated response. Musk called the decision to close the office “difficult,” in a separate post.
It’s unclear how big X’s operation is in Brazil. The platform had about 20 million active users in the country as of the first quarter, according to data firm Sensor Tower, down about 15% from the previous year.
Brazil’s highest court has ordered the suspension of social media accounts from prominent users, forced the removal of posts and cautioned it would temporarily shut entire platforms. Musk threatened to disrespect the court’s orders, prompting it to open an investigation on him.
–With assistance from Daniel Carvalho, Alicia Diaz and Andrew Rosati.
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