Twitter Files journalist Michael Shellenberger called out an attempt by anti-free speech foreign leaders to develop a “global system of mass censorship.”
Shellenberger warned in a July 21 post on X that the heads of state or government of Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Spain “are meeting today to develop a global system of mass censorship.”
He said that these leaders wish to push digital IDs on their population in order to freeze the bank accounts of people who do not get vaccinated or have unapproved beliefs on immigration, transgenderism, or other issues.
“Most every Western nation is seeking a totalitarian system of information control modeled on China and ‘Black Mirror.’ Their efforts have only intensified since Trump was elected. Only the U.S. stands in the way,” Shellenberger added.
Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chile President Gabriel Boric, Colombia President Gustavo Petro, Uruguay President Yamandú Orsi and Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez spoke at a “Democracy Always” conference in Chile on Monday.
This event stood in stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s moves to dismantle numerous American government censorship initiatives, while major platforms like Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta have been making moves away from censorship.
At the same time, countries like Brazil, Australia and members of the European Union have moved in the opposite direction, pushing American tech companies to censor speech and threatening the constitutional rights of American users in the process.
For example, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has harassed social media platforms Truth Social and Rumble to make them censor Rodrigo Constantino, U.S. citizen and political commentator, and Allan dos Santos, a Brazilian national in the U.S.
In addition, Brazil ordered Rumble to shut down in the country on Feb. 21. The South American country also targeted Musk’sX—fining the platform, threatening its Brazilian employees, and targeting multiple Musk-owned companies—after he refused to comply with government demands to censor content. This struggle even led to X temporarily closing in Brazil in August 2024.
Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has twice tried to force Musk to censor content in high-profile cases, not just for Australian users but for the entire world. Recently, a court struck down Grant’s takedown order for a February 2024 post by Chris Elston, better known as “Billboard Chris,” criticizing and correctly identifying the gender of a transgender activist who was tapped to join the World Health Organization’s (WHO) trans health panel.
Grant also tried to force Musk to take down all videos of the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during Mass at Assyrian Orthodox Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakely, Australia. Instead of joining her push, Bishop Emmanuel opposed censorship and spoke out in favor of free speech. Ultimately, Grant dropped the case after a setback in court. In both cases, Musk agreed to censor the content within Australia.
According to emails published by the House Judiciary Committee, Grant suggested that she would base her regulation of X on how well it adhered to the anti-free speech standards of the now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media.
Additionally, the founder and Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has reportedly faced pressure from the French government to censor politically disfavored content in another country while under investigation by that same government. The entire EU, including Sanchez’s Spain is under the draconian Digital Services Act, which pushes censorship of “illegal hate speech” and “disinformation” online.
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