Paul Serran's Signal to Noise

"Dear Secretary Blinken:

We write with serious concerns regarding actions taken by the Brazilian supreme court against the social media platform X. With X's operations now completely halted in Brazil, we urge the State Department to denounce this blatant attack on free speech.

On August 30, 2024, the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil ordered the suspension of X after it determined that the social media platform failed to subject itself to further continued harassment, specifically by Justice Alexandre de Moraes. This latest escalation follows ongoing clashes between Elon Musk and Moraes' court over "far-right" speech, during which the Justice had previously demanded the censorship of political opponents, the deplatforming of certain journalists, and the release of their personal information. Lula da Silva's government, in less than a day, enforced a complete shutdown of X within the country, blocking tens of millions of users from accessing the website in violation of Brazil's constitutional protections of free speech.

X is an American company committed to free speech and, with hundreds of millions of users in the United States and abroad, its shutdown by a self-described democratic government is profoundly disturbing. As the Washington Post Editorial Board warned, "taken together with Mr. Moraes's choice to freeze the assets of internet-provider Starlink, a separate company of Mr. Musk's, this move aligns Brazil not with the free world but with the likes of China and Russia.

Furthermore, the arbitrary harassment of Mr. Musk personally and of his associated companies sends a chilling message regarding Brazil's democratic backsliding and deteriorating business climate.

Not only is X considered a free speech platform, but it is also an American company for which Brazil is an important market. The U.S. is Brazil's biggest source of foreign direct investment and Brazil's second largest partner in trade. With this ban Brazil has now jeopardized the integrity of the bilateral market access and investment relationship. The unilateral political decision to suspend X in Brazil will give U.S. businesses pause before deciding to engage in Brazil if not make Brazil an entirely inviable market for investment in the very near future.

At the same time, the administration's failure to stand up to this most public harassment campaign signals direly to American companies operating abroad, especially those in alignment with our fundamental values like free speech. Promoting economic opportunity and human rights, particularly freedom of speech, should continue to be a focus for the United States on the global stage, especially in its engagements with the second largest democracy and economy in the Western Hemisphere. We therefore call on the State Department and our diplomatic presence on the ground to stand up to Brazil's ongoing abuse of American companies and its continued assault on its citizens' right to free speech."

"The Global Government Affairs team at 𝕏 would like to clarify that we did not mobilize in any way to bypass the block imposed by Brazil's Supreme Court (STF). Our recent actions were limited to updating network providers in order to facilitate stable and secure access for users throughout Latin America. These changes were made purely for operational purposes and were not intended to interfere with any ongoing legal or regulatory processes in Brazil."