Trump Media sues Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes

Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, and video platform Rumble filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Brazilian magistrate Alexandre de Moraes.

The companies accuse the Brazilian Supreme Court judge of "illegally censoring U.S. companies that operate primarily on U.S. soil" by overstepping his authority. They argue that his decisions in Brazil have violated U.S. rights. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Tampa.

They specifically challenge an order by Judge Moraes that required social media platforms to suspend "multiple U.S.-based accounts" of a "politically outspoken user," effectively "preventing anyone in the United States from accessing his content."

Although the lawsuit does not name "Political Dissident A," it describes him as "a U.S.-based conservative Brazilian commentator and blogger" who has been critical of Judge Moraes. The dissident "fled" Brazil after Moraes issued an arrest warrant against him, followed by an extradition request from the Brazilian court. Local media have identified him as Allan dos Santos, a media figure opposed to the Brazilian government who has been living in the United States since 2021.

Legal protection against Alexandre de Moraes

"In recent US history, that we can identify so far, we have not identified any other case in which a minister, a foreign judge, sends warrants directly to American companies, without complying with the official channels for American authorities to give consent to those warrants," Martin De Luca, Rumble's lawyer, said in an interview to CNN's Portuguese-language channel. He explained that there are three avenues for Brazilian authorities to request the United States to enforce a ruling, and they did not utilize any of them, he said.

De Luca explained that his goal is to ensure that neither Rumble nor any other U.S. company is compelled to comply with the magistrate's orders unless they follow one of those three legal avenues. He warned that failure to do so could result in the platform being forced to shut down its services worldwide.

Former congressman Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media & Technology, stated that the company is "firmly committed to upholding the right to free expression."

"We're proud to join our partner Rumble in standing against unjust demands for political censorship, regardless of who makes them," he added. Since Truth Social is supported by Rumble, the company claims that its services would also be impacted.

So far, the Brazilian Supreme Court judge has not responded to either the media or the court.

"A sweeping campaign to silence political dissent"

The lawsuit emerged just hours after Alexandre de Moraes was given the responsibility to decide whether to order the arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Critics from the left argue that this is the true motivation behind the lawsuit: to intimidate the judge into ruling in favor of the politician.

The judge has a history of decisions against Bolsonaro, including ordering the blocking of accounts and the arrest of some of his allies, as well as confiscating his passport. The decision currently in his hands stems from a new formal accusation against him: the Attorney General's Office accused him this week of having planned a coup.

In this week's filing, the plaintiffs describe a "sweeping campaign" by the magistrate "to silence political dissent." In addition to issuing orders against supporters of the former president, they reference the dispute between de Moraes and Elon Musk last year, which resulted in a million-dollar fine for X.

See the full lawsuit below