Social media platform X will close its local operations in Brazil following a bitter legal tussle over the platform's rights and responsibilities, owner Elon Musk has said.
The service will remain available to Brazilian users.
The closure was the apparent culmination of an ongoing legal battle between Mr Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who has said he is trying to fight the spread of dangerous disinformation online.
The decision to close the 𝕏 office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandre's (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024
A post from X's Global Government Affairs department said Judge Moraes had "threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders".
It said the office closure was necessary "to protect the safety of our staff," adding, "the responsibility lies solely with Alexandre de Moraes".
Judge Moraes previously had ordered the suspension of several X accounts suspected of spreading disinformation, including those of supporters of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who tried to discredit the voting system in the 2022 presidential election, which he lost.
"Freedom of expression doesn't mean freedom of aggression," Judge Moraes has said.
"It doesn't mean the freedom to defend tyranny."
Judge Moraes has spearheaded the battle against disinformation in South America's largest nation.
He presides over Brazil's Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), and last year it declared Jair Bolsonaro ineligible to run again for office, saying he had disseminated false information about the electoral system.
Elon Musk and other critics have said Judge Moraes is part of a sweeping crackdown on free speech.
The CEO said that had X complied with Judge Moraes's orders, "there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed".
In April, Judge Moraes ordered an investigation of Mr Musk.
An order seen by AFP showed Judge Moraes accusing Mr Musk of "criminal instrumentalization" of the platform.
Judge Moraes said Mr Musk had reactivated banned accounts, and he threatened the billionaire with a fine of about $20,000 for each instance.
"Social networks are not lands without laws," Judge Moraes wrote.
Mr Musk responded that while X might lose its Brazilian revenue, "principles matter more than profit".
