If you thought Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes' clash with Elon Musk was an isolated incident, you were mistaken. Moraes has now declared a new enemy—Chris Pavlovski, CEO of the video platform Rumble. On Friday, February 20, history repeated itself when Moraes ordered the suspension of yet another social media platform in Brazil.
The allegations supposedly justifying Rumble's shutdown are nearly identical to those used in the decisions that led to the blocking of X last year and Telegram in 2022. Despite the lack of clear legal grounds allowing the judiciary to ban someone from having social media profiles, Moraes ordered Rumble to remove the account of blogger Allan dos Santos—who, it's worth noting, does not even reside in Brazil. The platform refused to comply with this order, as well as an order to appoint a legal representative in the country. These refusals were enough for Moraes to further suffocate Brazilians' freedom of expression.
Moraes' ruling not only broadens the discussion on digital censorship but also exposes the weakening of democratic institutions in Brazil. No single minister should have the power to shut down entire social media platforms in the country. Yet, Moraes has done this twice in two years—without any public debate or clear limits.
