The Trump administration unveiled on Wednesday huge sanctions against a powerful foreign censor, adding him to a list for “perpetrators of serious human rights abuse around the world.”
The Trump-led Treasury Department sanctioned Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, denouncing him for “an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions.”
In a press release, the Treasury slammed de Moraes for engaging in an “unlawful censorship campaign against U.S. persons on U.S. soil.” It denounced him for many offenses against Americans, U.S. companies, and Brazilian citizens and politicians.
The statement emphasized that de Moraes had violated the rights of journalists and worked to censor critics, including Americans: “De Moraes has imposed preventive detention on and issued a series of preventive arrest warrants against journalists and social media users, some of whom are based in the United States. He has also directly issued orders to U.S. social media companies to block or remove hundreds of accounts, often those of his critics and other critics of the Brazilian government, including U.S. persons.”
The statement also criticized de Moraes for freezing assets, revoking passports, banning social media accounts and conducting brutal raids to confiscate property and arrest those who spoke up against him.
The Global Magnitsky Act freezes all property and funds of the sanctioned human rights abuser within the borders of the United States, while prohibiting Americans from doing business with him or her. This act also includes visa restrictions, but the State Department had already revoked de Moraes’ visa on July 18. The State Department also cited censorship, including of Americans, in its reasoning for banning the judge from the country.
Wednesday’s sanctions follow de Moraes’s decision to pressure social media platforms Truth Social and Rumble into censoring Rodrigo Constantino, a U.S. citizen and political commentator, and Allan dos Santos, a Brazilian national in the U.S. Rumble was shut down in Brazil on Feb. 21. Both Rumble and Truth Social are suing the Brazilian government.
When X owner Elon Musk refused to censor content, de Moraes subjected him to fines and threatened Musk’s Brazilian employees. De Moraes even seized millions from X and SpaceX, to pressure Musk into compliance. In August 2024, Musk temporarily closed X’s office in Brazil. The Brazilian government later ordered X shut down in Brazil. When X reopened in Brazil, Musk had to pay a $5 million fine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned de Moraes for his “serious human rights abuses” in a statement on X on Wednesday. “Let this be a warning to those who would trample on the fundamental rights of their countrymen—judicial robes cannot protect you,” Rubio wrote. Musk offered a supportive response to the Secretary of State’s post.
.@POTUS and @USTreasury have sanctioned Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program for serious human rights abuses. Let this be a warning to those who would trample on the fundamental rights of their countrymen—judicial robes…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 30, 2025
Rumble Founder and CEO Chris Pavlovski put out a statement thanking U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and President Donald Trump for their efforts to protect American citizens and tech companies.
“We finally have a government protecting US companies like Rumble and freedom of expression. Two years ago, I never thought we’d see a day like this, but I’m forever grateful we are here,” Pavlovski wrote in a Wednesday post on X.
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.
