Trump Media, Rumble sue controversial Brazil judge who feuded with Elon Musk
President Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group and video-sharing platform Rumble sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice over accusations of illegal censorship on Wednesday.
The case comes as the judge, Alexandre de Moraes, weighs charges brought on Tuesday alleging former President Jair Bolsonaro led a plot to overthrow Brazil’s government and undermine the country’s democracy after his 2022 election loss.
Trump Media’s lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Tampa, alleged that the judge’s previous orders “censor legitimate political discourse in the United States.”
Trump Media’s lawsuit alleged that the judge’s previous orders “censor legitimate political discourse in the United States.” AFP via Getty ImagesRumble in a statement said the lawsuit alleged that Moraes “violated the free speech protections of the First Amendment when he ordered the suspension of the US-based accounts of a specific well-known, politically outspoken user.”
It did not name the person.
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In recent years, Moraes has issued many rulings blocking social media accounts as he spearheaded a crusade against perceived attacks on democracy and the political use of disinformation in Brazil.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes last year was locked in a months-long feud with Elon Musk. REUTERSBrazil’s Supreme Court and Moraes’ office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Republican president is a majority owner of Trump Media, which runs his private social media platform Truth Social, although the Trump Organization has said he would hand over daily management of his various businesses to his children while serving in the White House.
Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, a former venture capitalist and former senator, had previously invested in Florida-based Rumble in 2021, the same year Trump joined the platform.
President Trump is a majority owner of Trump Media, which runs his private social media platform Truth Social. APRumble in 2023 disabled access for users in Brazil, citing court orders to “remove certain creators,” which it vowed to challenge.
The platform went back online in the country earlier this year. CEO Chris Pavlovski said Brazil had moved “to rescind their censorship order on Rumble,” without providing further details, and credited it to Trump’s election win.
Moraes last year was locked in a months-long feud with Elon Musk and led the supreme court decision that temporarily suspended Musk-owned X in Brazil over the social media platform’s failure to comply with court rulings.
Rumble in 2023 disabled access for users in Brazil, citing court orders to “remove certain creators,” which it vowed to challenge. NurPhoto via Getty ImagesMoraes in January said tech firms would need to comply with local laws in order to keep operating in Brazil, adding that the top court would not allow them to exploit their use of hate speech for profit.
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