The world must condemn Brazil’s ban on X

A Rubicon was crossed last month when X was banned in Brazil.

What happened is truly egregious. Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes banned the social-media platform when its owner, Elon Musk, refused to comply with the court’s censorship orders.

The ban came in the guise of combating undefined ‘fake news’, ‘misinformation’, ‘hate campaigns’ and ‘populist groups’. That some of this language is similar to rhetoric now used by UK politicians should deeply concern those of us who value free speech in the UK and beyond.

If Brazil’s X ban is allowed to stand, it will set a worrying precedent for governments around the world. It came even despite the Brazilian constitution stating that ‘any and all censorship of a political, ideological and artistic nature’ is forbidden. The right to free speech is also clearly enshrined in international law. It is therefore imperative that international human-rights bodies hold Brazil accountable to its obligations.

That’s why my organisation, ADF International, a faith-based legal-advocacy group that defends fundamental freedoms, has urgently petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intervene.

Today, over 100 free-speech champions from around the globe have signed the ADF’s open letter to the Brazilian congress, condemning this unprecedented breach of free speech. Signatories include a former British prime minister, politicians from the UK, Ireland and Latin America, five US attorneys-general and leading academics and journalists. It is now also open for members of the public to sign. This will send an unmistakable signal that the world is watching Brazil.

For those paying attention, it is evident that Brazil’s state-driven censorship is not an isolated occurrence. It is part of a trend of free-speech suppression across the world. Many countries increasingly want social-media companies to censor online material they object to for being ‘hateful’, ‘harmful’ or ‘mis / disinformation’.

Take the case of parliamentarian and grandmother Päivi Räsänen in Finland, who is currently on trial in the Finnish Supreme Court for alleged ‘hate speech’. Her supposed crime? In 2019, she tweeted a Bible verse and expressed that she was uncomfortable with her local church’s support for Pride. Also, 20 years ago, she wrote a pamphlet for her church expressing her faith-based views on same-sex relationships. Lutheran bishop Juhana Pohjola is on trial alongside her for publishing the pamphlet. This is the third time they are going to court for this alleged offence, after twice being unanimously acquitted in lower courts. The ADF is supporting their legal defence.

There is also the notorious Irish hate-speech bill. If passed, this bill would outlaw the communication of material or speech that might ‘incite hatred’ against people with certain protected characteristics, such as race, religion and gender. What exactly would be considered illegal ‘hate speech’ under this act remains undefined. Big Tech companies, many of which – including X – are headquartered in Dublin, would be responsible for enforcing this draconian law.

Then there is the Digital Services Act (DSA), an EU regulation adopted in 2022. This gives sweeping powers to the European Commission to investigate and levy enormous fines against tech companies that do not remove ‘illegal content, misinformation and disinformation’.

The Commission has already said that X ‘doesn’t comply with the DSA in key transparency areas’. Last month, Thierry Breton, the European commissioner in charge of enforcing the DSA, made a staggering intervention when he warned Musk against spreading ‘harmful content’ ahead of his interview with Donald Trump. Musk has said other social-media platforms besides X accepted an ‘illegal secret deal’ from the European Commission to censor speech.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Labour home secretary Yvette Cooper has made it clear she wants to crack down on those pushing undefined ‘harmful and hateful beliefs’. Following the summer riots, the Labour government indicated it plans to review the Online Safety Act to potentially tighten restrictions around so-called disinformation. The desire of governments to censor speech is clearly a global problem.

While the temptation for those in power to silence speech is nothing new, the roots of this current trend stretch back to at least 2016, when the West’s political and media class was shaken by the unexpected votes for Brexit and Trump.

Amid a newfound fear that the ‘barbarians were at the gates’, those concerned with the maintenance of the status quo quickly sought to restrict speech, especially in digital spaces. The response in Europe was for governments and bureaucrats to usher in a series of censorship measures to counter the perceived threat. A slew of draconian new laws came into effect, such as the EU Code of Conduct against ‘illegal online hate speech’ in 2016, the German Network Enforcement Act in 2017 and, most potently, the DSA in 2022.

The populations of Western countries are increasingly dissatisfied with the policy choices of their governing elites. Rather than addressing this, the elites have responded by censoring criticism. But, as is plainly observable in Brazil, censorship never ameliorates discontent. In fact, it only brings societal tensions to a boiling point.

The drastic move of Judge de Moraes demonstrates how far the authorities are willing to go to enforce their censorship agenda. Given worldwide evidence that free speech is imperilled like never before, we should not allow ourselves to think that what is happening in Brazil could not happen in the UK or any other Western country.

It is paramount that the world now stands against Brazil’s state censorship. As stated in our letter to the Brazilian congress: ‘Freedom of expression is not negotiable, nor is it a privilege – it is the cornerstone of every democratic society. We must defend it whenever it is under threat, whether in Brazil or anywhere else in the world.’

You can read, sign and share the ADF’s open letter here.

Paul Coleman is a lawyer and executive director of ADF International. He is author of Censored: How European Hate-Speech Laws are Threatening Freedom of Speech.