Brazil’s Ban On X Is Yet Another Gut Punch To Global Free Speech

“With great power comes great responsibility.” Long before Uncle Ben imparted this sage advice to Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, in comics and movies, it was an accepted maxim in Western civilization known as “noblesse oblige.” Those with wealth, privilege, or position have an obligation to use the advantages of their birth to benefit those not similarly situated. As Americans, we are blessed with the greatest protection of individual rights known to man, none more important than the Constitution’s First Amendment, which lays freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly as the bedrock upon which our republic rests. For nearly two and half centuries our nation has been a beacon and today, perhaps more than ever, that light must be shown to Brazil.

On Friday, Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered the “immediate, complete and total suspension of X’s operations” in the country after the social media platform refused to comply with government orders to shut down accounts which it had singled out for censorship.

The decision imposes a daily fine of R$50,000 (£6,800/almost $9,000) on individuals and companies that attempt to continue using X via a virtual private network.

The same justice has also issued an order to freeze the assets of the company Starlink, a satellite internet provider, following X’s refusal to comply with the censorship orders. Starlink is a subsidiary of SpaceX, an entirely different company in which Elon Musk is a 40% minority shareholder with 79% voting rights.

Monday, the Brazilian Supreme Court upheld the decision to ban X nationwide, further curtailing the right to free speech online.

Appealing to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to uphold freedom of expression, lawyers from free speech-supporting legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom International petitioned the body – which has jurisdiction over Brazil under the American Convention on Human Rights – to intervene in the dire situation.

The orders to censor online content are supposedly based on combatting disinformation and fake news. But the state has targeted conservative voices for censorship, including blocking pro-life messages during the 2022 election campaign, which contained a message contrary to the pro-abortion position held by then-candidate Lula da Silva.

Other targeted speech included repudiations of the Nicaraguan government’s suppression of religious freedom and the concern it could happen in Brazil, and criticism of Lula’s promotion of sexually explicit content in school curricula.

Various journalists and public figures, including journalist Paulo Figueiredo and bestselling American author Michael Shellenberger, have already been targeted with secret criminal investigations for reporting on the authoritarian drift of the Brazilian courts and their censorship efforts.

Of course, America’s moral authority to lead the world against the rising global tide of censorship is only as strong as our commitment to uphold these fundamental human rights in our own country. Facebook/Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg recently sent a letter to Congress admitting that his platform had censored important news stories under pressure from the Biden-Harris administration.

Last year, the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government revealed that the U.S. Treasury Department conspired with major banks to monitor transactions of ordinary citizens making purchases at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bass Pro Shops, and Cabela’s, and buying  “religious texts” like Bibles under the guise of identifying potential “domestic terrorists.” The federal government also flagged mainstream conservative organizations, and faith-based non-profit advocacy organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom, as potential “domestic terrorist” threats for surveillance by major banks.

Unfortunately, government suppression of disfavored viewpoints in America isn’t limited to big government in Washington, D.C., As a seventh grader, Liam Morrison wore a T-shirt to Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts, that read, “There are only two genders.” The principal of the school, along with a school counselor, pulled Liam out of class and ordered him to remove his shirt. After Liam politely declined, school officials said that he must remove the shirt, or he could not return to class. Attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom are representing Liam in court to defend his, and every student’s, right to free speech.

The rising tide of censorship abroad has reached our shores; when it comes to protecting free speech from the authoritarian impulses of government officials, we now must stand resolute on both fronts. And whether it is in the halls of power in Brazil, Washington, D.C., the local city hall or school district, we cannot give an inch. It has been said that all the darkness in the world cannot withstand the light of a single candle. America must stoke the flame of liberty at home so that it might shine brightly for the world to see.

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Lathan Watts is vice president of public affairs at Alliance Defending Freedom.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.