Donald Trump’s media company filed a lawsuit on Wednesday morning against a Brazilian Supreme Court justice who last year temporarily suspended X, the social media platform owned by Trump’s ally, Elon Musk.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes was sued in a U.S. federal court in Florida by the Trump Media & Technology Group and video-sharing platform Rumble. He is accused of illegally censoring right-wing voices on social media, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Trump holds a majority stake in the Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind his Truth Social platform.
The lawsuit was filed just hours after Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president and a close Trump ally, was charged with orchestrating a coup to overturn the 2022 election results in his country after his loss. Bolsonaro has denied the accusations.
Justice Moraes has been at the forefront of Brazil’s crackdown on platforms accused of spreading false information, and has dished out rulings blocking social media accounts as part of his broader effort to curb online disinformation.
The lawsuit alleges that his prior orders “censor legitimate political discourse in the United States.”
The companies accused Justice Moraes of censoring political discourse in the U.S. and violating the First Amendment by demanding Rumble take down accounts belonging to prominent Bolsonaro supporters.
The Supreme Court justice had hit back by arguing he was safeguarding the country from anti-democratic acts by Bolsonaro and his supporters.
SpaceX CEO Musk previously branded Justice Moraes an “evil dictator” for temporarily suspending his platform X in Brazil on Aug. 30.
“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,” X said in a statement on Aug. 17.
“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.”
The suspension remained in place until the billionaire complied with court orders to suspend accounts accused of spreading misinformation and inciting anti-democratic action.
