WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Rick Scott joined House of Representatives’ Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairwoman María Elvira Salazar, along with Representatives Carlos A. Giménez, Rich McCormick and Chris Smith, in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to cancel or revoke the visas of Brazilian Supreme Court justices who used their positions to silence free speech. For the last several months, several justices on the Brazilian Supreme Court led by Justice Alexandre de Moraes have led an assault against X (formerly Twitter) and several conservative politicians, culminating in a nationwide ban of the network and all Brazilian citizens from using it. This is a direct violation of the principle of freedom of speech, and the United States government must not reward those public officials responsible with the ability to enjoy our freedoms here.

On August 30, 2024, Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes ended his months-long legal siege against American social network X by banning it from Brazil entirely, leaving millions of Brazilians without access to the app. He also imposed a fine of up to R$50,000 or nearly $9,000 a day for accessing the app through a VPN. Not long after, the Brazilian government took its war to Elon Musk himself, freezing the accounts of Starlink, a company owned by Musk, in order to coerce him into complying with their unreasonable legal requirements.

The legislators wrote, “Justice de Moraes has a well-documented history of curbing free speech, particularly against individuals and groups with conservative political views. His latest actions represent a culmination of a broader pattern of judicial overreach. We respectfully urge you to deny any application for U.S. visas or admission to the United States, including revoking any existing visas, for Justice Alexandre de Moraes and the other members of the Brazilian Supreme Court complicit in these undemocratic practices.”

To read the full text of the letter, click HERE.

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