Trump media companies sue Brazil justice involved in Bolsonaro coup investigation News
Marcelo Camargo, CC BY 3.0 BR, via Wikimedia Commons
Trump media companies sue Brazil justice involved in Bolsonaro coup investigation

Media companies tied to US President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Thursday against Brazillian Federal Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of violating a US-based far-right commentator’s right to free speech when issuing orders suspending social media accounts for spreading disinformation.

The lawsuit, filed by Rumble Inc. and Trump Media & Technology Group, accuses Moraes of attempting to “illegally censor American companies operating primarily on American soil” with orders suspending an unnamed political influencer’s social media accounts. The complaint claims that the actions are extraterritorial overreach that would force a US company with no Brazilian assets to censor an individual legally dwelling in the US and therefore prevent the content from being seen within the US.

Rumble seeks a declaration that the order is unenforceable in the US. Rumble is a Delaware-based video platform, web hosting and cloud services business that, according to the complaint, is “designed to foster robust discussion of different viewpoints and opinions.” Trump’s social media platform Truth Social is also named in the complaint and relies on Rumble’s services to operate.

Typically, foreign sovereign officials have immunity for acts performed in their official capacity in other countries. The complaint argues that Justice Moraes is not entitled to foreign sovereign immunity in that the offending orders were issued “outside the scope” of his official authority and are therefore acts not performed under an official capacity. It further alleges that Moraes has conducted a campaign to crack down on political dissidents and implies that Moraes was involved in the plane crash death of his predecessor, Justice Teori Zavascki.

The complaint cites a 2020 order to “purge” social media accounts and dustups with X (formerly Twitter) CEO and tech company oligarch Elon Musk as instances of the justice’s anti-free speech campaign. X was banned in Brazil in August 2024 before being reinstated shortly thereafter in October of that year.

Significantly, de Moraes is set to hear recently filed coup d’état charges against former Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro. The former president is accused of organizing a failed coup attempt against Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Justice Moraes himself.

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