In a rare turn of events, the White House condemned an attack on free speech.

The White House issued a rebuke against Brazil for not allowing the country’s residents to access Elon Musk’s X platform.

“The White House issued a rare rebuke of Brazil Tuesday for banning the country’s residents from accessing X in a free-speech struggle with the platform’s billionaire owner Elon Musk,” journalist Michael Shellenberger wrote.

“When it comes to social media, we have been very clear that we think that folks should have access to social media. It’s a form of freedom of speech,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, according to the New York Post.

The outlet said her remarks came in response to a question from reporter Raquel Krähenbühl of Brazil’s TV Globo.

From the New York Post:

Brazil blocked the country’s more than 200 million residents from using X on Aug. 30 after Alexandre de Moraes, a powerful member of the country’s supreme court, demanded the censorship of a large number of accounts featuring alleged hate speech or misinformation.

Musk refused, describing the diktat as anti-democratic and calling the judge a repressive “dictator” and “Brazil’s Darth Vader.”

X pulled the company’s reps out of Brazil when de Moraes threatened to arrest them for not censoring the list of users ahead of the blanket ban.

“Social media is not a no man’s land!” de Moraes wrote in an April ruling as his fight with Musk escalated.

Ordinary Brazilians can still access X using VPN providers, but they can be fined for doing so under de Moraes’ policies.

“Also today, members of Congress introduced anti-censorship legislation aimed at Brazil,” Shellenberger said.

“Unexpected, but appreciated,” Elon Musk said in response to the report.

“Brazil seized 18.35 million reais ($3.3 million) from the bank accounts of Elon Musk’s X and Starlink to pay for ‘fines’ imposed by the country’s Supreme Court,” 100 Percent Fed Up noted.

Brazil Seizes Over $3 Million From Elon Musk-Owned Companies

 

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