Twitter Files: Brazil's de Moraes Led 'Sweeping' Crackdown on Free Speech

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Facts

  • According to the latest Twitter Files release, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has pushed a 'sweeping' crackdown on free speech that sought to undermine democracy in the South American country.1
  • The investigation results posted Wednesday by Michael Shellenberger claim that de Moraes and the Superior Electoral Court he leads made abusive demands to the social media platform in the lead-up to the 2022 presidential elections.1
  • The reported unusual requests included the court mandating the platform to supply personal details about users who mentioned the pro-printed vote hashtag #VotoDemocraticoAuditavel and attempting to censor supporters and allies of then-Pres. Jair Bolsonaro.1
  • This comes a little more than a year after Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, observed that de Moraes' actions were 'extremely concerning.'2
  • By that time, Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald had revealed a secret order from de Moraes for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok to block individuals that allegedly incited or supported the Jan. 8, 2023, riots.3
  • A DataFolha poll last week found that approval and disapproval ratings of the Supreme Court are about even, at 29% and 28%, respectively.4

Sources: 1Michael Shellenberger on X, 2New York Times, 3Associated Press and 4Folha de S.Paulo.

Narratives

  • Right narrative, as provided by Wall Street Journal. This release further reasserts that the Brazilian Supreme Court, and specifically de Moraes, poses a significant threat to the country's democracy amid a crackdown on free speech unseen since the 1988 Constitution came into effect. It's outrageous that the judiciary has consistently silenced dissent without due process.
  • Left narrative, as provided by The New Republic. Yet again, Musk's Twitter Files promote far-right allegations as if they're the objective truth — and as if freedom of speech was an absolute right worldwide. Tweets must have consequences, especially when extremists undermine the democratic order, so de Moraes' actions made him a democracy crusader — not a tyrant.

Predictions