Lawyers from the international section of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International), a conservative advocacy group created in the United States that defends freedom of expression and religion, sent a letter to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) asking it to intervene in Brazil regarding the blocking of the social network X.
In the document, sent last Monday (2), ADF International recalled that the body linked to the Organization of American States (OAS) has jurisdiction over Brazil under the American Convention on Human Rights and asked it to intervene in a scenario that the group described as “terrible”.
“The country’s X-blockade is symptomatic of an endemic problem. It has been going on for more than six years and has caused real damage to Brazilian democracy, producing a chilling effect on the majority of the population, who, according to recent surveys, are afraid to express their opinions in public,” ADF International said in the letter.
In a statement, Tomás Henriquez, ADF International’s director of legal advocacy for Latin America, said that “the state of censorship in Brazil is severe” and that the country today ranks “among the worst in restrictions on free speech in the Americas.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X, thanked ADF International for sending the letter to the IACHR with a post on the platform. The post was accessed by People’s Gazette from a connection outside Brazil.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of X and the blocking of accounts and assets of Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite division, in Brazil. The First Panel of the Supreme Court ratified the suspension of the platform on Monday.
On Thursday (5), Minister Kassio Nunes Marques, rapporteur of an action brought by the Novo party against the blocking of X, indicated that he should take the issue to the Supreme Court’s plenary for decision.
X’s suspension occurred due to the company’s refusal to appoint a legal representative in the country, after having announced the closure of its office in Brazil on August 17. Musk considers Moraes’ orders to take down profiles and content on the social network to be illegal and has been refusing to comply with them.
The blocking of Starlink accounts and assets was ordered by Moraes so that Musk would pay the fines imposed on X for not complying with the minister’s orders.
The billionaire said he owns only 40% of Starlink’s shares and that the blockade harms other shareholders who have nothing to do with the dispute.
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