Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) abruptly shut down its operations in Brazil on Saturday after the company claimed Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes threatened to have a legal representative arrested over non-compliance with content removal demands, Reuters reported.

X posted the announcement Saturday, citing concerns over “censorship orders” issued by Moraes. The company claimed Moraes secretly threatened to arrest one of the company’s legal representatives in the country if they did not comply with court orders to remove certain content from the platform, Reuters reported. (RELATED: European Gov Berates Top Official For Sending Threatening Letter To Elon Musk Ahead Of Trump Interview)

X Global Affairs asserted that, despite multiple appeals to the Supreme Federal Court, the Brazilian public had not been informed of the orders and that X’s Brazilian staff had no control over the content removal decisions, according to the statement. The statement also emphasizes, while the service itself would remain available to users in Brazil, the platform’s decision to close operations was made to protect the safety of its employees.

Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders. He did so in a secret order, which we share here to expose his actions.

Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard,… pic.twitter.com/Pm2ovyydhE

— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) August 17, 2024

Due to demands by “Justice” @Alexandre in Brazil that would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law, 𝕏 has no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil.

He is an utter disgrace to justice. https://t.co/yAvX1TpuRp

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024

This platform is being asked to censor content in Brazil where the censorship demands require us to violate Brazilian law! That is not right. https://t.co/ovsIA1QBNg

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 14, 2024

Moraes, who has been investigating “digital militias” accused of spreading misinformation and hate speech during former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, previously ordered X to block specific accounts on the platform, the outlet reported.

Musk had publicly criticized Moraes’s decisions as “unconstitutional” and initially vowed to reactivate the blocked accounts, according to The Hill. After facing legal pressure, however, X reversed its stance and agreed to comply with the court’s rulings.

𝕏 respects the laws of Brazil and all countries in which we operate.

When given an order to break the law, we must refuse. https://t.co/vLuFUP9gN8

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2024

He demanded that 𝕏 suspend accounts of people who raised corruption concerns while insisting that 𝕏 pretend the suspension was for violating our terms of service!

We obey the laws of countries even if we disagree with them, but this required violating the laws of Brazil.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024

Musk expressed his frustration Saturday on X, calling Moraes an “utter disgrace to justice” and condemned the judge’s alleged demands for “secret censorship and private information handover.” X Global Affairs stated the responsibility for the closure lies solely with Moraes, whom they accuse of acting in a manner incompatible with democratic governance.

Moraes is the (obviously) unelected dictator of Brazil

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024