The recent decision by the Brazilian Supreme Court to close down the activities of the social network X, popularly known by its previous name Twitter, has had a strong impact in Europe, especially in Italy.
Several of the main Italian media outlets, such as The Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica and several television networks highlighted the case, raising concerns about the directions of democracy in Brazil.
In the newspaper The newspaper, journalist Francesco Giubilei made a blunt analysis this Sunday (1), stating that Brazil seems to be heading towards an antidemocratic drift. Giubilei highlighted that the decision to block access to the X platform, ordered by the minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, places Brazil alongside nations where censorship is a common practice.
“What is most worrying is the risk of an anti-democratic drift. Just think that the countries where X is banned are China, North Korea, Afghanistan and, as of today, Brazil. Perhaps Lula and Judge Moraes should reflect on this,” wrote the journalist, warning of the dangers of restricting freedom of expression in a democratic country.
“Formally, the decision was made after Musk failed to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, but in reality, a battle has been going on between the owner of X and the Brazilian government for a long time. It all started a year ago, with the request from the Brazilian justice system to suspend some accounts of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro who supported the protests after Lula’s victory in the elections, culminating in the attack on the palaces of power in Brasília. Musk refused to comply with the request, claiming freedom of expression, and started a tweet war against the judge,” says an excerpt from the article.
