Minnesota AG Keith Ellison’s Message to Brazil Sparks Debate Over Free Speech
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stirred controversy after posting a message on X (formerly Twitter) thanking Brazil, just days after the country began blocking access to the social media platform, FOX Business reports.
The post, written in Portuguese and titled “obrigado Brasil!” (“thank you, Brazil!”), has received a lot of attention, especially from conservatives and X’s owner, Elon Musk.
The controversy began on Saturday, when Brazil began limiting access to X after the platform missed a deadline to appoint a legal representative in the country. Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the ban, emphasizing that internet companies must have local representatives to respond to court orders, such as removing illegal content or election-related misinformation. The ruling also imposed daily fines of nearly $9,000 on anyone who used VPNs to circumvent the ban.
Elon Musk responded sharply to Ellison’s post, accusing the Democratic Party of seeking to undermine free speech. “The Democratic Party – same one that used to defend the First Amendment – now wants to destroy the First Amendment,” Musk wrote in a message sharing Ellison’s post.
Since early August, X has not had a representative in Brazil, which has resulted in legal issues for the platform. In response to the ban, X released a statement accusing the Brazilian judiciary of attempting to censor political opponents and claiming that the platform was shut down for refusing to comply with what it called illegal orders. The company also stated that its former Brazilian legal representative received threats of imprisonment and had her bank accounts frozen before resigning.
The situation has sparked a broader debate about the balance of national sovereignty and global free speech, with critics interpreting Ellison’s message as an endorsement of Brazil’s actions against X. Supporters of Ellison, on the other hand, argue that his message was intended to demonstrate respect for Brazil’s legal processes.
