Brazil is once again enforcing censorship in a ruling threatening companies with liability for alleged “hate speech.”
The decision from Brazil’s Supreme Court, led by radical anti-free speech justice Alexandre de Moraes, is the latest move to push Big Tech companies, including X, TikTok and Facebook to censor any speech that isn’t approved by the government. Financial Times reported Friday that the ruling requires Big Tech to remove hate speech, incitement to violence or vaguely defined “anti-democratic acts” immediately, even if no other judicial order has been issued, or be held liable for the content. De Moraes has made international headlines with his fight to destroy free speech in Brazil.
Financial Times claimed the ruling will help protect young people, but also acknowledged that the ruling will likely trigger pre-emptive censorship from companies eager to avoid liability. Individuals might be able to sue companies for allowing unsanctioned free speech.
The outlet further noted that Brazil may antagonize the U.S., as the Trump administration threatened visa restrictions for foreign nationals who censor Americans’ speech.
Financial Times quoted “rightwing” Brazilian lawmaker Coronel Chrisóstomo, “Congress will have to react. We cannot allow censorship.”
X, Truth Social and Rumble have been battling with De Moraes for months as the justice continually demands more censorship. In February, a U.S. district court ruled in favor of Rumble and Truth Social after De Moraes demanded the platforms shut down a dissident’s accounts. Back in September, De Moraes forced X to censor accounts belonging to Brazilian political dissidents.
Conservatives are under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
