The microblogging service X, formerly known as Twitter, has unexpectedly announced the closure of its offices and the cessation of all business activities in Brazil. The background is an escalating conflict with Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes, a member of the Supreme Court. X-owner Elon Musk accuses the judge of censorship and speaks of a threat to freedom of speech.

Musk explained that X will remain usable in Brazil but will no longer pursue commercial activities. This decision follows repeated orders from the judge to delete certain content on the platform that allegedly spreads hate messages and misinformation. The dispute between Musk and de Moraes has been simmering for months and has now reached a new high point.

At the beginning of the year, de Moraes had instructed X to block several accounts suspected of spreading misinformation during the tenure of right-wing populist ex-President Jair Bolsonaro. Musk then announced that he would reactivate these accounts, which prompted a sharp reaction from the judge.

De Moraes threatened X with a $20,000 fine for each account reactivated against Supreme Court orders. In a court order, he wrote: "Social networks are not a lawless space." Musk, on the other hand, described de Moraes in a series of short messages as "an absolute disgrace to justice" and emphasized that X could not comply with the judge's "secret censorship and private information disclosure demands.

This development underscores the increasing tensions between global technology companies and government authorities, particularly regarding issues of censorship and freedom of expression.