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X (formerly Twitter) is closing its Brazil office due to a legal conflict with the country’s Supreme Court.

What’s the deal: X is shutting down its Brazil office after a secret order by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, demanding X to remove specific posts or face a daily fine of $3,650 and the potential arrest of its legal representative, Rachel Nova Conceicao. Despite the closure, X will still be available to users in Brazil.

What posts they wanted removed: X stated that Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the removal of posts linked to accounts accused of spreading fake news and hate speech, particularly during former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. Moraes described these accounts as “digital militias” spreading harmful content.

What X is saying: In a statement, X said, “Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders. He did so in a secret order, which we share here to expose his actions. Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard, the Brazilian public not being informed about these orders and our Brazilian staff having no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on our platform, Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process. As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately. The X service remains available to the people of Brazil. We are deeply saddened that we have been forced to make this decision. The responsibility lies solely with Alexandre de Moraes.”

Digging Deeper: Elon Musk and Justice Alexandre de Moraes have a history of conflict, mainly due to Moraes’s attempts to curb what he considers “misinformation” on social media in Brazil. Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to block accounts accused of spreading fake news and hate speech, particularly many who support former President Jair Bolsonaro. While X initially complied, Musk later reversed the decision, reactivating the accounts and condemning Moraes’s actions as unconstitutional.