One of the main lines of attack against Jair Bolsonaro, who served as president of Brazil until 2022, was one that we&#8217;re all very familiar with at this point. Liberals claimed that Bolsonaro was an &#8220;enemy of democracy.&#8221; Media outlets — both in the United States and Brazil — claimed that Bolsonaro was an autocrat who wanted to suspend the rule of law and use the force of government to punish his political enemies. This message resonated with Brazilians because some very prominent figures promoted it — including a former prosecutor-turned Supreme Court judge named Alexandre de Moraes. Among the Brazilian Left, de Moraes was something of a hero for taking on Bolsonaro. Most notably, the judge presided over a tribunal that banned Bolsonaro from running for office for 8 years.
Why? Bolsonaro allegedly spread &#8220;lies about voting machines,&#8221; which supposedly inspired a mob to ransack Congress, the presidential palace and other government buildings. It was basically Brazil&#8217;s January 6. So in the name of protecting democracy, the judge prevented people from voting for Bolsonaro for the better part of a decade.
He did to Bolsonaro exactly what the Left wanted to do to Donald Trump.
So what are the &#8220;defenders of democracy&#8221; up to in Brazil, just two years later? How are these crusaders for democratic norms faring in 2024?
As you may have heard, de Moraes just issued maybe the single most undemocratic and authoritarian court decision in the modern history of Brazil. He has unilaterally ordered a total ban on Elon Musk&#8217;s social media platform, X. No one in Brazil — a country where more than 20 million people used X — is legally allowed to use the platform. Anyone caught using a VPN to bypass this restriction can be fined roughly $9,000 per day, which is about 6 times the average Brazilian&#8217;s monthly salary. Additionally, de Moraes has fined X more than $3 million.
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He&#8217;s also frozen the assets of Elon Musk&#8217;s company Starlink, which provides internet access to hundreds of thousands of Brazilians living in remote areas. The point was to compel Starlink, an independent internet provider, to ban X as well. And on top of that, the Brazilian court system is now pressuring SpaceX, even though they have nothing whatsoever to do with the company. So SpaceX now has to pull employees out of Brazil.
The judge has gone to war with X for a very simple reason: The company refused to block certain accounts that, in the eyes of the Brazilian government, &#8220;harmed democratic institutions in Brazil.&#8221; And then, X refused to appoint an in-person local legal representative in Brazil, because the judge had threatened to arrest the representative to extract concessions from X. So in order to &#8220;protect democratic institutions&#8221; supposedly, tens of millions of Brazilians can no longer access the single most popular news app in the country. They have to turn to the corporate press to learn what they&#8217;re allowed to hear. Only approved narratives are allowed in Brazil right now.
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For Elon Musk, the showdown in Brazil is obviously a major test. He&#8217;s long maintained that he&#8217;ll obey the laws of whatever countries his companies are operating in. But he maintains that Brazil&#8217;s judges are violating Brazil&#8217;s constitution, which isn&#8217;t exactly a hard case to make at this point. This week The Economist took a closer look at the judge who issued this order against X and Starlink. <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2024/09/03/the-all-powerful-judge-taking-on-elon-musk">Here&#8217;s</a> what they found:
<blockquote>Mr Moraes also has form: he is a man who likes and understands power. He has extensive contacts in the federal police, military and intelligence services. &#8230; Other decisions have made the court look authoritarian. In 2019 Mr Moraes was put in charge of investigating misinformation about the Supreme Court and threats against the court’s members and their relatives. These had spiked after the election of Mr Bolsonaro. The &#8216;fake-news&#8217; inquiry was contentious from the start. Normally investigations are opened by the public prosecutor or the police. By giving itself the power to initiate investigations the Supreme Court became victim, prosecutor and judge all at once. No time limit was set, there is no legal definition for disinformation in Brazil and Mr Moraes has not made public which accounts he has ordered shut and why.</blockquote>
This is a violation of one of the most basic principles of every functioning legal system, which is that courts are only supposed to resolve legal disputes that are brought to them. That is their one and only job. Some party — whether it&#8217;s a citizen or the government or some other entity — needs to bring a case to the courts. And then the courts rule on it.
Once the courts have the authority to generate cases on their own, and make up arbitrary rules to enforce, then they&#8217;re not really courts anymore. Instead of judges, you have de facto dictators. And that&#8217;s what&#8217;s happening right now to Elon Musk and his companies in Brazil.
You&#8217;d hope that an incident like this would trigger immediate condemnations from the State Department. After all, the Biden administration claims to care very deeply about democracy. It&#8217;s essentially all they ever talk about. But there has been no condemnation from the mainstream Left in this country. In fact, if you listen to the corporate press, you&#8217;ll find a handful of reports essentially blaming Elon Musk for objecting to what the courts in Brazil are doing. 
Here for example is the BBC, which for some reason is pretending Taylor Lorenz — who openly hates Elon Musk — is an impartial expert on this topic. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Brazil suspends social media platform X | BBC News" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J1jcDq0ywIg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;He could have prevented the ban, but he chose not to.&#8221; Notice how the Brazilian government — which just shut down an entire social media app for millions of people — has no agency in Taylor Lorenz&#8217;s analysis. A private company refused to do the bidding of the Brazilian government. And therefore, it&#8217;s the private company&#8217;s fault that they got shut down. That&#8217;s how Taylor Lorenz, who works for The Washington Post, is selling this decision by the Brazilian Supreme Court. It&#8217;s how the BBC is presenting the news.
It&#8217;s not hard to see what&#8217;s going on here. Brazil is the template for mass censorship in the United States. If they can pull it off in Brazil, they&#8217;re going to try to pull it off here. That&#8217;s why the corporate press is presenting Elon Musk as the villain in this scenario. The media has a vested interest in shutting down X because it&#8217;s one of their biggest competitors. Random posts on X get more viewers than CNN&#8217;s entire primetime lineup. So in order to lay the groundwork for shutting down X in this country, they&#8217;re saying Elon Musk had it coming in Brazil. 
And it&#8217;s not just the media that&#8217;s trying to send this message. Senior figures in the Democrat Party are doing it too. For example, Keith Ellison is the attorney general of the State of Minnesota. He&#8217;s the chief legal officer of a major state. He&#8217;s also closely aligned with Kamala Harris&#8217; campaign. He just spoke at the DNC a few weeks ago. Here&#8217;s what Keith Ellison says about what&#8217;s happening to Elon Musk&#8217;s companies in Brazil.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
obrigado Brasil!
&mdash; Keith Ellison (@keithellison) <a href="https://twitter.com/keithellison/status/1830720700019028109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;obrigado Brasil,&#8221; which translates to &#8220;Thank you, Brazil.&#8221; 
Again, Keith Ellison is not some backbench politician from a no-name congressional district. He&#8217;s the chief law officer of Minnesota. And he&#8217;s endorsing the total shutdown of a major social media platform because it wouldn&#8217;t censor the political opponents of the government.
Politicians like Keith Ellison crave censorship because they&#8217;re corrupt. They only care about power. And they&#8217;re willing to lie in order to get it. Remember what Keith Ellison did during the George Floyd riots. Ellison&#8217;s office hid bodycam footage showing that George Floyd said, &#8220;I can&#8217;t breathe,&#8221; several times, while he was struggling with cops in the backseat of a police cruiser — long before he was on the ground with a knee near his neck. That was obviously relevant information because it suggested that Floyd was having a fatal overdose, and that he couldn&#8217;t breathe because he had taken a lethal quantity of fentanyl. So Keith Ellison&#8217;s office suppressed the footage.
Democrats like Keith Ellison want total control of social media platforms like X so that they can suppress information like that even more often, and even more easily. They want to be able to shut down any information or opinions that contradict their preferred narrative. That&#8217;s why they&#8217;re thrilled with what&#8217;s happening in Brazil. 
It&#8217;s also why they have no problem with what the Biden administration is doing to Tusli Gabbard. Gabbard has emerged as one of the most effective critics of the modern Democrat Party. She has what no prominent Democrat has, which is integrity. She was on the fast-track to be a senior official in the Democrat Party, even serving as vice chair of the DNC. But she threw all of that away because she wanted to follow her principles — particularly concerning foreign affairs — instead of seeking power. So, Tulsi Gabbard can&#8217;t be controlled by party elites. What&#8217;s their solution? They put her on a terror watch list. Watch:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Kamala says she believes in freedom, but I was put on a secret terror watch list after I publicly criticized her. No one will be safe from political retaliation under a Harris administration. I put my life on the line for this country. Now the government calls me a terror threat. <a href="https://t.co/3xjgjmrLhD">pic.twitter.com/3xjgjmrLhD</a>
&mdash; Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1831346487969698259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This should be leading every nightly newscast in the United States. There is no reason for a political figure like Tusli Gabbard to be placed on any kind of terror watch list, or to receive 30 minutes of extra screening every time she tries to fly. The only conceivable explanation is that this is a federal program intended to harass and intimidate her. She&#8217;s not following the party line, so this is what she gets.
But she&#8217;s able to speak freely about what&#8217;s happening to her on X, at least for now. That&#8217;s the platform where Tulsi Gabbard posted that video I just showed you. It&#8217;s where she — and many other political dissidents in many other countries — can speak their minds, for the most part. At the very least, it&#8217;s a freer platform than any of the alternatives. That&#8217;s why the government, in both this country and Brazil, wants to shut X down. It&#8217;s also why France is trying to shut Telegram down and jail its founder. We are in the middle of a historic war on the freedom of speech, in countries where it would&#8217;ve been unthinkable just a few years ago.
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If they&#8217;re allowed to succeed in places like Brazil and France, it won&#8217;t be long until they try the same thing here. Our Constitution won&#8217;t protect us. Brazil and France have constitutions that supposedly protect the freedom of speech, and it&#8217;s not working out so well for them. The only solution is to do exactly what Elon Musk and Tusli Gabbard are doing, which is to respond to censorship and intimidation with more speech — call out what they&#8217;re doing. And in November, do everything you can to prevent these tyrants from seizing any more power than they already have.

Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre De Moraes

Brazil Bans Free Speech In The Name Of Democracy. Are We Next?

Brazil

Elon Musk

Free Speech

Keith Ellison

Taylor Lorenz

Tulsi Gabbard

Twitter

“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 <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/8789d9b8-a466-45c9-94b0-8e409683bb1e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> 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 <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/zuckerberg-says-biden-administration-pressured-meta-censor-covid-19-content-2024-08-27/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent a letter</a> 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 <a href="https://adfmedia.org/press-release/adf-testify-us-house-subcommittee-weaponization-federal-government?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> 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, <a href="https://adflegal.org/press-release/adf-likely-appeal-there-are-only-two-genders-t-shirt-case?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Liam Morrison</a> 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.
* * *
Lathan Watts is vice president of public affairs at <a href="https://adflegal.org/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alliance Defending Freedom</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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

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

Censorship

Opinion

Readers Pass

Social Media

For Kamala Harris, the “joy” is running out.
The thrill, as they say, is gone. She feels as though she is in the mire. She feels as though she is stagnating — because she is. There&#8217;s been no movement in the polls in her favor. The state polls are not moving in her favor. She has basically flatlined at this point. The momentum is clearly no longer with her. 
Most Americans know nothing about her. How long can Harris go without the American people becoming acquainted with her? 
That suggests we are about to be subjected to a great censorship regime in the United States.
That&#8217;s precisely what happened in 2020. In 2020, there was a full-scale media lockdown on the Hunter Biden story the month before the election in an attempt to secure the election for Joe Biden. 
But now, we are at the point where there&#8217;s no information about Harris, which requires a much bigger lockdown if the goal is to get Harris through unscathed.
That’s why we are seeing an elevated level of attack on Elon Musk.
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The Left has decided it is absolutely necessary that Elon Musk&#8217;s X be punished. Many of the other social media tech pros have done what they can in favor of Democrats in order to prevent the dissemination of material that Harris wouldn’t like.
But on X, it&#8217;s freewheeling access, open for all the good and all the bad. And the Left is furious that Musk has declared he supports President Trump. None of the other social media pros have. All of them are well-known Democratic voters — or they&#8217;ve tried to stay out of it completely. 
But Musk has supported Trump.
This is why you are seeing the Left cheer along as dictatorial regimes attempt to shut down X. 
Remember what happened in Brazil? Jair Bolsonaro, the conservative Right-wing leader, narrowly lost an election in disputed circumstances, then was immediately arrested and barred from running in the future. And leftist Lula da Silva, who is treated by the media of the United States as a great liberator, turned out to be quite dictatorial, and he and the Brazilian judiciary basically rewrote the constitution in tyrannical ways. 
Now, Brazil is outlawing X. According to the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/brazils-supreme-court-upholds-x-ban-d9b4a394">Wall Street Journal</a>:
<blockquote>Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said his country should serve as an example for the rest of the world on how to deal with Elon Musk after the Supreme Court voted to uphold a ban on the billionaire’s social-media platform X. 
“The world is not obliged to put up with Musk’s far-right ideology just because he is rich,” Brazil’s leftist leader told local media late Monday.</blockquote>
You might think the world should be obliged to hear a lot of points of view they don&#8217;t like; we do it all the time here in the United States.
But apparently not. 
<blockquote>Brazil, one of the world’s largest democracies, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/brazil-bans-x-outlawing-access-to-app-for-millions-3771d4eb?mod=Searchresults_pos2&amp;page=1&amp;mod=article_inline">shut down X</a> over the weekend after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes outlawed the social-media platform for failing to suspend accounts that he asserted contained hate speech and misinformation, as well as complying with other legal requirements.
A five-member panel of justices voted unanimously in favor of the ban Monday after de Moraes called on the court to review his decision. He and the court have been facing accusations of overstepping their mandate, both here in Brazil and far beyond. Musk has referred to de Moraes as a “dictator” on X. … the ban on X, which took effect early Saturday, is one of his most audacious moves yet, jurists say, drawing criticisms from free speech advocates and also some investors concerned about judicial overreach and the impact it might have on business. </blockquote>
Dictatorship of the Left is hunky-dory with many people on the American Left, so long as it targets their political opponents. 
X is being targeted by Brazil for not shutting down “hate speech and misinformation,” terms that have been applied to everything that disagrees with the Left-wing social agenda.
That is being celebrated by the Left in the United States.
For example, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, former Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee, <a href="https://x.com/keithellison/status/1830720700019028109">posted</a> on X, “obrigado Brasil!” — which means, “Thank you, Brazil.” 
Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1830826870146727941">replied</a>, “The Democratic Party – same one that used to defend the First Amendment –now wants to destroy the First Amendment.”
True.
Guess who used to be very much in favor of banning people from X for things she disliked? Kamala Harris, when she called for X (then Twitter), to ban Donald Trump, <a href="https://x.com/KamalaHarris/status/1179810648127152128" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> in 2019, “Look, let’s be honest. @realDonald Trump’s Twitter account should be suspended.”
Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under Bill Clinton, penned <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/30/elon-musk-wealth-power">an article</a> titled, “Elon Musk Is Out Of Control.” Noting that Musk endorsed Trump, he suggested a boycott of Tesla, that “advertisers should boycott X,” that “regulators around the world should threaten Musk with arrest if he doesn’t stop disseminating lies and hate on X,” that “the Federal Trade Commission should demand that Musk take down lies that are likely to endanger individuals – and if he does not, sue him,” and that “the US should terminate its contracts with him, starting with Musk’s SpaceX.”
Am I suspicious there will be an attempt to shut down information dissemination through pressure tactics on social media before the election?
You bet I am.
I am very grateful that Elon Musk bought X in the first place because if X were in other hands, you’d be getting ready for the coercive and collusive attempt to shut down speech right before another presidential election.

Kamala Harris/Elon Musk

Will Kamala Go After Elon With The Law?

2024 Election

Kamala Harris

Alliance Defending Freedom on Saturday filed a petition in support of X, formerly known as Twitter after a Brazilian judge ruled the social media platform should be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-rips-into-democrat-ag-for-appearing-to-celebrate-brazils-x-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banned</a> in the country.
Last week, Federal Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that X should be banned in Brazil because the company did not comply with his order to appoint a legal representative for Brazil or suspend a number of accounts. Musk has refused to comply with government demands, promising to protect the free speech of X users. People in Brazil who try to access X through other means, like a VPN, could face daily fines of nearly $9,000. 
In response, the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a petition asking the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intervene on behalf of X as it is blocked. The commission has jurisdiction over Brazil under the American Convention. 
“It’s concerning that governments across the Western legal tradition are starting to look at these companies as avenues to censor rather than benefits to humankind,&#8221; ADF SVP of Corporate Engagement Jeremy Tedesco told The Daily Wire on Tuesday. &#8220;You really can&#8217;t truly be free, you can’t live in a democracy, and you can’t enjoy freedom unless you have free speech as an underlying foundation of your society.&#8221;
Tedesco said that the situation in Brazil should concern all Americans because “the exact same impulse to censor exists in our own government.” 
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He pointed to the FBI recommending censorship of stories on Hunter Biden&#8217;s laptop, as well as the Biden administration’s efforts to censor information on COVID. Last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a letter saying that the Biden-Harris administration repeatedly asked him to censor posts about COVID on his platforms. 
Tedesco praised Musk for “standing in the gap,” saying that he was helping to expose government efforts to use corporations to censor speech they didn’t like.
“Every American should be concerned, and not just for themselves and their ideological outlook, for any American regardless of their beliefs if we end up in a place where the government feels like it can get away with that kind of jawboning and pressuring of private corporations to do their censorship bidding,” he said. 
The decision to suspend access to X was upheld on Monday by a panel of judges on the Brazilian Supreme Court.

Brazil And X Photo Illustrations

Brazil’s Crackdown On X Should Be Warning Sign For All Americans, Legal Group Warns

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Elon Musk said on Monday that the Democratic Party was attempting to destroy free speech after leftist Minnesota Democratic Attorney General <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/keith-ellison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Keith Ellison</a> appeared to celebrate the ban of X, previously known as Twitter, in Brazil. 
On Labor Day, Ellison posted a message in Portuguese translated to &#8220;Thank you Brazil!&#8221; as the country blocked X at the orders of Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. De Moraes ruled that the social media company did not comply with his orders revolving around appointing a legal representative for the country or suspending several accounts. De Moraes said that Musk had &#8220;total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty.&#8221;
Musk, the CTO and executive chairman of X, ripped into Ellison over his apparent support for the block. 
“The Democratic Party – same one that used to defend the First Amendment –now wants to destroy the First Amendment,” Musk posted. 
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Democratic Party – same one that used to defend the First Amendment –now wants to destroy the First Amendment <a href="https://t.co/36KAhzA0la">https://t.co/36KAhzA0la</a>
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1830826870146727941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Other conservatives also ripped into Ellison over his post. 
“Tim Walz&#8217;s attorney general in Minnesota &#8212; Keith Ellison &#8212; thanks Brasil for crushing free speech platform X,” <a href="https://x.com/MZHemingway/status/1830777820953362850" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway. 
“Tim Walz&#8217;s Attorney General, Keith Ellison, Celebrates Brazil Banning X,” <a href="https://x.com/SteveGuest/status/1830939872627957830">said</a> conservative communicator Steve Guest. “Take note: Keith Ellison is a ENEMY of free speech.”
In his decision last week, de Moraes said that X must be restricted in Brazil because the company refused to comply with several court orders. He also said that people who try to access the platform through other means, like a VPN, could face daily fines of nearly $9,000. 
X’s Global Government Affairs argued that de Moraes’ requests violated Brazilian law. 
“We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that,” it said in a <a href="https://x.com/GlobalAffairs/status/1829296715989414281">statement</a>.
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The decision to suspend access to X was upheld on Monday by a panel of judges on the Brazilian Supreme Court. 
“Economic power and the size of a bank account do not give rise to outlandish immunity,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/02/world/americas/brazil-elon-musk-supreme-court.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Justice Flavio Dino, saying that X “seems to believe it’s above the law.”
De Moraes has long clashed with X, ordering the social media company earlier this year to censor certain X accounts, which Musk refused to do. 
“We believe that such orders are not in accordance with the Marco Civil da Internet or the Brazilian Federal Constitution, and we challenge the orders legally where possible,” the company <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brazilian-judge-orders-suspension-of-x-social-media-platform-responds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the time. “The people of Brazil, regardless of their political beliefs, are entitled to freedom of speech, due process, and transparency from their own authorities.”

MixCollage-03-Sep-2024-12-01-PM-9595

Elon Musk Rips Into Democrat AG For Appearing To Celebrate Brazil’s X Ban

Celebrities

First Amendment

Minnesota

Politics

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay blasted the NFL for scheduling the team&#8217;s opening game against the Green Bay Packers in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and told his family not to come because of the &#8220;crazy&#8221; high crime rate.
The NFL — which has scheduled games in London, Munich, and Mexico City in recent years — set up the league&#8217;s first game in South America, which will take place on Friday. During a recent episode of his podcast &#8220;Big Play Slay,&#8221; the Eagles defensive back said he&#8217;s looking forward to the start of the 2024 season but added that he&#8217;s not excited about the Brazil game.
&#8220;Week 1, I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait, but man, I do not wanna go to Brazil,&#8221; Slay said. &#8220;You wanna know why? I’m here to tell you why. They already told us not to leave the hotel. They told us we can’t do too much going on because the crime rate is crazy.&#8221;
&#8220;I’m like, NFL, why would y’all wanna send us somewhere where the crime rate is this high? And we’re out of the country, so the first thing people are thinking is something terrible can possibly happen,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I told my family, ‘Do not come down there,’ because I’m not gonna be anywhere to be found, really. I’m gonna be in the hotel chilling, minding my business, playing my game, after a long, nine-and-a-half-hour flight.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724361346607000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1ZhyOQfEkxcMH_D1Ago3CQ">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Slay on Brazil trip: “Week 1.. I can’t wait. But man, I do not wanna go to Brazil.. They already told us not to leave the hotel. They told us we can’t do too much, because the crime rate is crazy. I’m like ‘NFL, why would you wanna send us somewhere with a crime rate this… <a href="https://t.co/7921ob1f8R">pic.twitter.com/7921ob1f8R</a>
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/PHLEaglesNation/status/1830664054790078542?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Homicide statistics for Sao Paulo, a city of more than 11 million people, are scarce. Murders in the city have reportedly decreased in recent years, but murder numbers for all of Brazil remain high. In October 2023, the U.S. State Department <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/brazil-travel-advisory.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> a Level 2 travel advisory for Brazil, encouraging Americans to &#8220;exercise increased caution&#8221; in the country &#8220;due to crime.&#8221;
&#8220;Violent crime, such as murder, armed robbery, and carjacking, is common in urban areas, day and night. Gang activity and organized crime is widespread. Assaults, including with sedatives and drugs placed in drinks, are common. U.S. government personnel are discouraged from using municipal buses in all parts of Brazil due to an elevated risk of robbery and assault at any time of day, and especially at night,&#8221; the State Department wrote.
The NFL&#8217;s Brazil game also comes as the country is getting blasted for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brazilian-judge-orders-suspension-of-x-social-media-platform-responds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banning</a> social media company X. Last week, Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered that X, formerly Twitter, be suspended in the country. Under the order, anyone in Brazil who attempts to access X via other means, such as a VPN, will face daily fines of nearly $9,000.
<a href="http://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724211156439000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2xQ8bdTcpfdrPBAzczIuck">WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI</a>
The Eagles vs. Packers game will be the first opening weekend game in NFL history to be played on a Friday night. Football fans have voiced frustration about the game <a href="https://x.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1778052537859330115" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only streaming on Peacock</a> and not being available on traditional cable channels for Americans. For people in Brazil, however, the Eagles vs. Packers game will be <a href="https://www.packers.com/news/packers-vs-eagles-how-to-watch-stream-listen-week-1-sau-paulo-brazil-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">available</a> on the Brazilian TV network RedeTV! and ESPN Brazil.

Darius Slay

Eagles Player Rips NFL For Scheduling Season Opener In Brazil, Told Family, ‘Do Not Come’

Eagles Player Rips NFL For Scheduling Season Opener In Brazil, Told Family, 'Do Not Come' 

Crime

Green Bay Packers

Murder

Philadelphia Eagles

Sports

World

On Friday, Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/30/24231286/x-brazil-ban-elon-musk-legal-representative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordered</a> that social media platform X, formerly Twitter, be suspended in the country. The order comes after X did not appoint a new legal representative, which is mandatory in Brazil.
In response to the order, X Global Government Affairs issued the following <a href="https://x.com/GlobalAffairs/status/1829296715989414281">statement</a>:
<blockquote>Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents. These enemies include a duly elected Senator and a 16-year-old girl, among others.
When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts. Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him.
We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.
In the days to come, we will publish all of Judge de Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency.
Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders.
To our users in Brazil and around the world, X remains committed to protecting your freedom of speech.</blockquote>
The order also makes clear that anyone in Brazil who attempts to access X via other means, such as a VPN, will face daily fines of nearly $9,000.
De Moraes and X have been at odds since the company refused to limit accounts that were alleged to be spreading misinformation.
In April, following <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-vows-to-expose-corruption-from-brazils-dictator-who-launched-probes-for-not-restricting-free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">apparent orders</a> to censor certain X accounts, the company posted a <a href="https://x.com/GlobalAffairs/status/1776729732970594483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1776729732970594483%7Ctwgr%5E643fc435882492f8b20f058e4e72be93b51505d9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F6964518%2Felon-musk-brazil-judge-moraes-free-speech-disinformation%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> noting that they were not provided with reasons why the accounts had to be censored, and they were not allowed to say which accounts were affected or which court or judge had made the ruling.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724211156439000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2-L2DitSaIUj5wz8v0bgxx">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
“We believe that such orders are not in accordance with the Marco Civil da Internet or the Brazilian Federal Constitution, and we challenge the orders legally where possible,” the statement concluded. “The people of Brazil, regardless of their political beliefs, are entitled to freedom of speech, due process, and transparency from their own authorities.”
X CTO and Executive Chairman Elon Musk shortly after <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1776742819111330202" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> that the accounts were no longer restricted. He also posted on X that the platform would <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1776989005848207503?s=61&amp;t=ExoE76Om1Imh1hGFmSWnKA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reveal</a> what had been demanded of them by the judge, and said that the judge &#8220;brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil,&#8221; adding that &#8220;he should resign or be impeached.&#8221;
Musk later named Judge de Moraes, calling his order “draconian,” among other <a href="https://time.com/6964518/elon-musk-brazil-judge-moraes-free-speech-disinformation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statements</a>. In return, de Moraes said he would investigate Musk himself, accusing him of “flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime,” and “the public threat of disobedience of court orders …”

Twitter X Photo Illustrations

Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension Of X; Social Media Platform Responds

General

A passenger plane carrying 61 people crashed in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/brazil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brazil</a> on Friday, according to reports and videos that circulated online.
The two-engine ATR 72 model aircraft operated by Brazilian airline VoePass was traveling from Cascavel to Guarulhos Airport when it crashed in a residential area of Brazil&#8217;s Sao Paulo state.
The airline initially said in a statement that there were 58 passengers on board and four crew members. In a revised statement, the airline said that there were 61 people on board and that all of them died during the crash.
&#8220;VoePass flight 2283 departed Cascavel at 14:58 UTC (11:58 am local time) and climbed to a cruising altitude of 17,000 feet 24 minutes into flight,&#8221; said Flightradar24. &#8220;The aircraft continued to cruise toward São Paulo at 17,000 feet until 16:21 UTC when ADS-B indicates a brief loss in altitude, followed a brief gain in altitude, followed by a steep and terminal descent.&#8221;
The live global flight tracking service said that the plane fell at a descent rate of -24,064 feet per minute.
Footage was captured of the moment that the plane fell to the ground and erupted in a fireball.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
BREAKING: Voepass Flight 2283, a large passenger plane, crashes in Vinhedo, Brazil <a href="https://t.co/wmpJLVYbB3">pic.twitter.com/wmpJLVYbB3</a>
— BNO News (@BNONews) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1821959476435370205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 9, 2024</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
WATCH: New video shows Voepass Flight 2283 crashing into homes in Vinhedo, Brazil. Number of victims not yet known. <a href="https://t.co/Ndwodo2Vcz">pic.twitter.com/Ndwodo2Vcz</a>
&mdash; BNO News (@BNONews) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1821961115787485343?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 9, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;Voepass has taken all measures to support those involved,&#8221; the company said. &#8220;There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board.&#8221;
Footage of the aftermath showed the plane on the street engulfed in flames.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
WATCH: Crash site of Voepass Flight 2283 in Vinhedo, Brazil. 62 people were on board <a href="https://t.co/ngUhvEtSRS">pic.twitter.com/ngUhvEtSRS</a>
— BNO News (@BNONews) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1821965468124795378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 9, 2024</a></blockquote>

Airplane

WATCH: Video Shows Passenger Plane Falling Out Of Sky, Crashing Into Ground In Brazil

Air Travel

Plane Crash

More than a dozen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sharks">sharks</a> living off the coast of Brazil tested positive for cocaine, researchers shared in a report on Tuesday.
A total of 13 Brazilian sharpnose sharks were tested by scientists who discovered the cocaine in both the muscle tissue and liver of the sharks, according to researchers from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/23/science/cocaine-sharks-brazil-scli-intl-scn/index.html">CNN</a> reported.
The sharks were chosen both because of their small size and that they live in the coastal waters that are in close proximity to a significant contaminant discharge for their entire life cycle, according to the report. It is the first time the drug has ever been detected in free range sharks, the outlet noted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sharks off Brazil coast test positive for cocaine <a href="https://t.co/bDMDjqqic7">https://t.co/bDMDjqqic7</a>
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1815731808161403321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
The study found that the cocaine levels in the 13 sharks had a concentration as much as 100 times higher than previously reported for other aquatic creatures, the <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/sharks-off-brazil-coast-test-positive-for-cocaine-13183543?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter">study found</a>.
And the cocaine concentration in muscle tissue was higher in female sharks than in their male counterparts. 
Researchers believe the rise in cocaine consumption around the world is most likely the cause, as around 22% of users of the drug users live in South America, with Brazil the second largest consumer market in the area, the paper found.
The report found that the increased consumption and poor sewage treatment infrastructure was the likely cause for the increased cocaine in the sea, rather than it being due to cocaine being dumped by traffickers, as previously suggested, study co-author Enrico Mendes Saggioro, an ecotoxicologist at the foundation, told CNN.
“We don’t usually see many bales of coke dumped or lost at sea here, unlike what is reported in Mexico and Florida,” Mendes Saggioro said, noting that the sea gets polluted by cocaine due to illegal laboratories producing the drug and along with the sewage discharges from humans users.
It is unclear at this point what kind of damage the cocaine may have done to the shark&#8217;s health, as studies have yet to be done. However, previous research on how the drug affects fish and mussels showed that it was harmful.
“It is probable, although not yet proven that exposure would have deleterious physiological effects on the sharks,” a joint statement from Mendes Saggioro and study co-author Rachel Ann Hauser Davis from the foundation, read.
Marine eco-toxicologist Sara Novais, from the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre of the Polytechnic University of Leiria, called the findings &#8220;very important and potentially worrying,” <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/cocaine-sharks-found-waters-brazil">Science magazine</a> noted.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/netflix-film-crew-described-being-attacked-by-sharks-in-hawaii-like-something-out-of-jaws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netflix Film Crew Described Being Attacked By Sharks In Hawaii: ‘Like Something Out Of Jaws’</a>

One Giant Leap: Great White Sharks Breach In The South Atlantic Ocean

More Than A Dozen Sharks Test Positive For Cocaine

Cocaine

Entertainment

News

Sharks

Brazil’s former president, conservative Jair Bolsonaro, a target of the new leftist administration, has <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/brazil-police-indict-ex-president-212117509.html">reportedly</a> been indicted on Thursday by the Federal Police over last year&#8217;s accusations that he imported jewelry worth $3 million and sold two luxury watches without paying taxes.
The police report is expected to be transmitted to the country’s Supreme Court, which would prompt Brazil’s prosecutor-general, Paulo Gonet, to decide whether to put Bolsonaro on trial.
“The persecution of Bolsonaro is declared and shameless!” said Flávio Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro’s son and a sitting senator, on social media. “Someone receives a gift, a committee of public servants decides that it is yours. The TCU questions and the gift is returned to the Union. There is no damage to the treasury! Then the group of PFs, handpicked for the mission, indicts the person.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A perseguição a Bolsonaro é declarada e descarada! Alguém ganha um presente, uma comissão de servidores públicos decide que ele é seu. O TCU questiona e o presente é devolvido à União. Não há dano ao erário! Aí o grupo de PFs, escalados a dedo pra missão, indicia a pessoa.
&mdash; Flavio Bolsonaro (@FlavioBolsonaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/FlavioBolsonaro/status/1808967930509496567?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
“Police said in August that Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly $70,000 sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia,” the Associated Press reported. “Brazil requires its citizens arriving by plane from abroad to declare goods worth more than $1,000 and, for any amount above that exemption, pay a tax equal to 50% of their value.”
Police also reportedly indicted Bolsonaro’s former aide, Mauro Cid, and two of his lawyers, Frederick Wassef and Fábio Wajngarten.  Wassef blasted that the indictment had been made public, contending that the investigation was supposed to proceed under seal. “I am going through all of this solely for practicing law in defense of Jair Bolsonaro,” he asserted.
Wajngarten issued a lengthy statement on X, writing in part:
<blockquote>
In the entire investigation there is no evidence against me. To be specific: I was indicted for the bizarre reason that I had complied with the Law! &#8230; My legal advice was that the gifts received by the former President of the Republic should be immediately returned to the Court of Auditors of the Union, in defense of any doubts regarding questions regarding the public interest. And legal advice is not a crime. &#8230; Trying to incriminate me is absurd and reveals the fragility of the accusations systematically made by the Federal Police over the last 18 months. The PF knows that I did nothing about what it found, but it still wants to punish me because I am a permanent and uncompromising defense of former president Bolsonaro. If the intention is to intimidate me, they won&#8217;t succeed. Seeing the triumph of the Police State by those who said they were victims of it, used against political opponents, is certainly a dark chapter in our Democracy and will be duly corrected, in due time, by our institutions.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
O meu indiciamento pela Polícia Federal se baseia na seguinte afronta legal: advogado, fui indiciado porque no exercício de minhas prerrogativas, defendi um cliente, sendo que em toda a investigação não há qualquer prova contra mim. Sendo específico: fui indiciado pela razão…
&mdash; Fabio Wajngarten (@fabiowoficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/fabiowoficial/status/1808975213004272075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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In February, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians rallied to support Bolsonaro, who flew an Israeli flag in defiance of anti-Semitic remarks made by Brazil’s president, socialist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had said, “What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide. It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children. What’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Da Silva was <a href="//645B7F52-BE63-4299-B35C-54264D22B33D/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> to 12 years in jail for corruption in 2017. In 2019, Brazil’s Supreme Court annulled Da Silva’s conviction, ruling that the judge who issued it had no jurisdiction over the former president’s case because he was located in a different state from where Da Silva lived.
Bolsonaro and Argentinian President Javier Milei, who also is a staunch supporter of Israel, are due to meet this weekend in Brazil.
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this article.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hundreds-of-thousands-of-brazilians-flood-sao-paulo-to-support-bolsonaro">Hundreds Of Thousands Of Brazilians Flood Sao Paulo To Support Bolsonaro</a>

BRAZIL-POLITICS-BOLSONARO

Brazil’s Conservative Bolsonaro Reportedly Targeted With Indictment

Courts

Indictment

Jair Bolsonaro

A prominent Brazilian conservative who was a senior aide to former president Jair Bolsonaro has been imprisoned without trial in the South American country for four months, justified by what appears to have been an error on a U.S. government website.
Lawyers for Filipe Martins, who considers himself a political prisoner of the left-wing Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), say the court is using the error on the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) website as proof to imprison him. Martins was arrested on February 8 at the order of STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who is using records showing travel to the United States — and the lack of corresponding Brazilian immigration records — as evidence that Martins defrauded the immigration system by leaving the country undetected.
According to the incorrect CBP travel history records used to keep Martins imprisoned obtained by The Daily Wire, there was a log of Filipe entering the United States with inconsistencies. But representatives of Martins, who served as the special adviser for international affairs to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/7-things-you-need-know-about-trump-brazil-who-kassy-dillon">Bolsonaro</a>, say he never left his country on the day being alleged. There is evidence showing he made Uber and food purchases in Brazil, and also that he took a domestic flight. 
The prolonged imprisonment comes as the STF faces widespread criticism for overstepping its authority to punish opponents. He has not yet been given a trial and remains imprisoned on the grounds that there is a risk he would flee the country, despite the correction. His lawyers say the government is holding him for political reasons.
“It has been widely known that de Moraes has been fearing the growth of conservatives,”  Martins’ attorney, Ana Barbara Schaffert, told The Daily Wire. “This extended, unfounded imprisonment indicates that they are trying to torture him into confessing to anything that fits their narrative, because there is nothing legally that can detain him in jail.”
A correction was made to the CBP I-94 website last week after Martins&#8217; defense team submitted additional documentation to officials to prove Martins did not travel to the United States on December 30, 2022, on a presidential flight with Bolsonaro before the inauguration of the next president, as is alleged. New I-94 records show that Martins&#8217; last entry to the U.S. was in September 2022, when he accompanied Bolsonaro to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
<div id="attachment_751681" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-751681" class="size-full wp-image-751681" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.15%E2%80%AFAM.png" alt="" width="680" height="450" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.15%E2%80%AFAM.png 680w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.15%E2%80%AFAM-300x199.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" />An incorrect travel history was used by the Brazilian Supreme Court to show that Filipe Martins traveled to the U.S. on December 30, 2022. Martins&#8217; lawyers and an updated document from CBP dispute he ever left the country on that date.</div>
In a determination letter to Martins&#8217; lawyers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated it conducted a review of the situation and “made any corrections to records that our inquiries determined were necessary.”
The lawyers say the update should lead to Filipe&#8217;s release.
“We finally have an official document that can be used as a legal basis that Martins never entered the United States on December 30, 2022,” Schaffert said. “We hope de Moraes takes this into account and releases Filipe immediately.”
<div id="attachment_751679" style="width: 894px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-751679" class="size-large wp-image-751679" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM-884x576.png" alt="" width="884" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM-884x576.png 884w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM-300x196.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM-768x501.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM.png 1221w" sizes="(max-width: 884px) 100vw, 884px" />An updated document from the CBP shows Filipe Martins&#8217; last entry to the U.S. was in September 2022, despite accusations from the STF.</div>
Martins’ legal defense filed a petition for his release and is awaiting an official response.
De Moraes also used as evidence an outdated Microsoft Word file with a list of passengers for the December 30 presidential flight that had been updated numerous times, as well as a blog post speculating he “evaporated” from Brazil, according to Schaffert. 
“It was merely a draft of a supposed list, which would never be used as evidence for an arrest in any normal process,” Schaffert said.
Martins was a popular powerhouse in the Bolsonaro administration due to his youth, large social media following, and conservative and pro-American ideology. He was nicknamed the “Jared Kushner” of the Bolsonaro administration while in his previous diplomatic position, which led to a <a href="https://x.com/filgmartin/status/1167851207563628545">meeting wit</a><a href="https://x.com/filgmartin/status/1167851207563628545">h</a> former President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Martins is also being investigated by the STF for allegedly contributing to a document questioning the 2022 Brazilian presidential election that led to the return of socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to power after serving a jail term for corruption.
This investigation was not cited as the official reason for Martins’ jailing, according to his lawyers.
Bolsonaro, who was president from January 2019 to December 2022, has been under investigation by the STF for making accusations of voting fraud, and his involvement in orchestrating riots on government buildings in January 2022. He is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brazil-bans-bolsonaro-from-holding-office-over-election-claims-energizing-his-base">currently barred</a> from holding or running for office in Brazil until 2030 for casting doubt on its electronic voting system in a meeting with diplomats at the presidential palace, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/world/americas/bolsonaro-brazil-banned-office.html">reported</a>. 
By using the power of his position, de Moraes has been on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-vows-to-expose-corruption-from-brazils-dictator-who-launched-probes-for-not-restricting-free-speech">a mission</a> to crack down on conservatives and free speech in the country. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/22/world/americas/brazil-alexandre-de-moraes.html">The New York Times accused</a> de Moraes of using “a broad interpretation of the court’s powers” to “investigate and prosecute, as well as to silence on social media, anyone he deems a menace to Brazil’s institutions.” De Moraes also signaled to deputies that he fears conservatives will make gains in the Brazilian Congress in 2026, <a href="https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/politica/moraes-sinaliza-preocupacao-com-bancada-conservadora-em-2026/">reported CNN Brazil.</a>
<div id="attachment_751053" style="width: 889px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-751053" class="size-large wp-image-751053" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07-879x576.jpg" alt="" width="879" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07-879x576.jpg 879w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07-300x197.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07-768x503.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07.jpg 1290w" sizes="(max-width: 879px) 100vw, 879px" />Filipe Martins and his wife Anelise Hauagge. (Photo: Instagram)</div>
De Moraes’ crusade led to a feud with billionaire Elon Musk after demanding the censorship and suspension of users on X accused of “fake news.”
“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!” <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1777517291736813695">Musk tweeted</a> in April. “We obey the laws of countries even if we disagree with them, but this required violating the laws of Brazil.”
De Moraes opened a probe into Musk for “disobedience” and waging a “disinformation campaign” against the court.
“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime, the public threat of disobedience of court orders and future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespect the sovereignty of Brazil,” de Moraes <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brazil-musk-x-supreme-court-investigation-a645757b95a66ee658832802908466ab">said</a>.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-probes-fbis-reported-role-in-brazils-crackdown-on-critics">demanded answers</a> last month after reports emerged suggesting the FBI assisted in cracking down on critics and journalists.
“In Brazil, news outlets have recently reported that the FBI, on behalf of the Brazilian government, reached out to two U.S. residents, including a journalist targeted in some of the censorship orders by Brazilian courts,” said Jordan’s letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The STF did not respond to a request for comment.

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Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is demanding answers from the FBI on reports the bureau contacted Americans on behalf of the Brazilian government.
Jordan sent a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/735058963/Jordan-Letter-to-Wray">letter</a> to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday seeking answers on reports out of Brazil that suggest the FBI may have played a part in the Brazilian government’s crackdown on critics and journalists. The chairman gave the FBI a deadline of 5 p.m. on June 4.
“In Brazil, news outlets have recently reported that the FBI, on behalf of the Brazilian government, reached out to two U.S. residents, including a journalist targeted in some of the censorship orders by Brazilian courts,” says Jordan’s letter, obtained by The Daily Wire. The Ohio Republican then went on to point out the bureau’s recent history of working with the Ukrainian intelligence community to flag the social media accounts of U.S. citizens.
“The FBI’s recent outreach raises concerns about whether the FBI is again helping to facilitate a foreign government’s censorship efforts. Free speech, including free speech on digital platforms, is a fundamental and necessary part of democratic and just societies,” Jordan continued.
Brazil&#8217;s Supreme Court has launched an investigation into speech alleged to be hateful or subversive to law and order, targeting the social media critics of the government and others, including former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.
“[T]o understand the nature and extent of the FBI’s interactions with the Brazilian government regarding its censorship efforts and to assist the Committee in its oversight,” Jordan wrote, the Judiciary Committee is requesting the FBI turn over a number of documents and communications related to the bureau’s reported dealings with the Brazilian government.
Wealthy tech entrepreneur Elon Musk was wrapped up in the court’s investigation after he said that his platform, X, was being threatened with fines and his employees threatened with jail time unless they comply with court orders to take down some accounts. Musk, a self-proclaimed supporter of free speech, has called the court orders illegal and threatened to release all of X’s communications with the court for the Brazilian public to see.
Last month, Musk promised to defy the court’s orders once X employees were in a “safe place.” The federal Supreme Court justice behind the censorship purge, Alexandre de Moraes, then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brazilian-supreme-court-takes-on-elon-musk-and-x-in-social-media-crackdown">swept</a> Musk into the investigation.
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“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian Justice, incitement to crime, public threat of disobedience to court orders and future lack of cooperation by the platform are facts that disrespect Brazil’s sovereignty and reinforce the connection of the intentional criminal instrumentalization of the activities of the former Twitter,” de Moraes wrote in a court order.
The FBI did not immediately respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request for comment.

Jim Jordan

House Probes FBI’s Reported Role In Brazil’s Crackdown On Critics

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