The U.S. State Department is not budging on its fierce opposition to foreign censorship efforts, a top official just affirmed.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau promised not to allow any foreign government entity to “override the First Amendment.” He was reacting to a new claim from Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice that it can force X and other American or foreign companies to remove content globally, even if it’s legal in other countries.
Landau minced no words when addressing the situation on X: “As long as the Administration of @POTUS @realDonaldTrump is in charge, US individuals and companies can rest assured that no foreign government will be allowed to censor the speech of US individuals and companies on US soil. No Brazilian judge or other foreign court can override the First Amendment. Period.”
Landau’s post was written in response to an August 19 X Global Government Affairs X post detailing the Brazilian Court’s demands. “Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice has asserted global jurisdiction, ordering platforms like X to remove content worldwide, even if lawful elsewhere-such as in the United States,” X Global Government Affairs explained. “The court framed this as a ‘natural consequence’ of the internet, disregarding international law. This sets a dangerous precedent.”
X has brought this issue to the attention of the U.S. Trade Representative. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has also banned or frozen X and Starlink accounts over the last five years while demanding ever greater censorship via “secret orders,” X explained.
Moraes has also tried to pressure Truth Social and Rumble to censor Brazilian dissidents which led to the two companies to petition a Florida District Court, not once but twice for separate requests.
The Trump administration has responded by sanctioning Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and has raised tariffs on the country to protest his censorship campaign.
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.
