Donald Trump’s supporters are promoting a portrait of Brazil as an authoritarian nation in order to fuel conspiracy theories that a possible victory by Kamala Harris in the elections would put freedom of speech in the United States at risk.
The campaign, which has as its central point the judicial suspension of X in Brazil, has spread lies designed to attribute to the Democratic Party alleged plans to promote censorship.
In the last two months alone, English-language posts mentioning alleged censorship in Brazil had more than 137 million views and 1.3 million likes on X, according to an exclusive research conducted by Aos Fatos.
Around 15% of that audience was directed to publications that relate the Brazilian case to the presidential elections in the United States.
In recent weeks, the discourse has been amplified by the participation of Brazilians and has even entered Donald Trump’s campaign. On October 20, during an event at a McDonald’s franchise, a Brazilian immigrant asked the candidate not to let “the United States become Brazil.”
Days earlier, Brazilian MMA fighter Markus Peres called for votes for Trump in his victory speech after a fight. “Right now, Venezuela and my country, Brazil, are in a terrible situation, because their rulers are left-wing. So, if you don’t want the United States to become that, stay right-wing. It’s Trump!” he shouted, to applause from the audience.
The two videos went viral among Republicans and sparked comments warning of a supposed risk of censorship in the U.S. if Kamala Harris were elected.
Under censorship
Despite circulating since April, the conspiracy plot that distorts political facts in Brazil to try to influence the election for the White House gained strength in late August, when STF (Federal Supreme Court) minister Alexandre de Moraes ordered the blocking of X in Brazil.
The suspension came after Elon Musk refused to appoint a legal representative in the country. The billionaire had announced the closure of X’s local office on August 17, accusing Moraes of “censorship” after the justice ordered the suspension of user profiles investigated for misinformation and attacks on official institutions.
Shortly before the suspension, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sent a letter to the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee in which he accused the Biden administration of pressuring Meta to “censor” content related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The accusations made by Zuckerberg and the news about the suspension of X became fuel for conspiracy theories that attributed to Democrats a plan to block social-media platforms in the U.S. as well. Those pieces alleged that Harris intended to repeat Moraes’ order, if elected.
That lie, which reached Brazil, took out of context a 2019 video in which the Democrat defended the suspension of Donald Trump’s profiles. The editing suppressed the context to make it seem like the candidate was talking about Musk’s platform.
Spread by big names in American politics, such as Robert Kennedy Jr., the misinformation also appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast — one of the most popular influencers in the world, who recently interviewed Trump in a three-hour episode.
Despite disclaimers published by checking agencies, the piece of disinformation returned to circulation after being republished by Musk.
Poster boy
In the United States, the main face of complaints about alleged censorship in Brazil is conservative activist Michael Shellenberger, famous for downplaying the severity of climate change.
In April, Shellenberger had been the linchpin of the case that became known as Twitter Files Brazil — the leaking of documents, taken out of context and without proven authenticity, to attribute to Alexandre de Moraes alleged attempts to censor X.
On August 31, Shellenberger argued in an article that Brazil had become “a laboratory for the censorship that leaders in the United States, Europe and other Western countries desire.” He accused the American administration of failing to address the Brazilian case and alleged that U.S. Democrats “not only support censorship, but also directly finance it.”
Commenting on the blocking of X and Moraes’ decisions to suspend profiles, the American activist stated that Brazil was experiencing “a type of repression that we see in embryonic stages in the United States and Europe.”
Lobbying
The rhetoric was also disseminated by lawmakers and lobbying organizations for conservative agendas in the U.S..
On September 2, Republican Senator Ted Cruz released a podcast accusing Harris of supporting the censorship to X. “Brazil bans X, foreshadowing the censorship Democrats want in America,” the episode’s callout reads.
The senator was one of 12 U.S. lawmakers who signed a letter to the Brazilian government asking for an investigation into X’s ban in the country. The document also asked for a formal position from Washington on the case — although White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre had already argued that "everyone should have access to social media," in response to the press.
The conservative organization America First has also launched an investigation into alleged involvement in “social media censorship by Brazil’s left-wing government.” The conservative foundation ADF (Alliance for the Defense of Freedom) has collected signatures against the ban on the network in Brazil.
Even after X’s return in Brazil, accusations about alleged persecution of freedom of speech in the country continued to circulate in the United States:
- On October 9, America First filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department for “refusing to provide records related to the U.S. government’s involvement in recent global efforts to suppress free speech”;
- On October 16, Shellenberger published another text, linking Joe Biden’s government to an investigation against congressman Marcel Van Hattem (Novo-RS) in Brazil;
- On the same day, far-right American presenter Alex Jones — who was ordered by U.S. courts to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to parents of children shot dead in schools, victims of conspiracy theories created by him — linked the restrictions suffered by his social media accounts to the banning of profiles by court order in Brazil.
Translated by Luiz Roberto Mendes Gonçalves.
The investigation path
Aos Fatos conducted an advanced search on X for posts in English containing the terms “Brazil,” “censorship,” and “free speech” published in the last two months. We also searched for related content on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
We then analyzed the publications and counted their reach, building a timeline of mentions of alleged censorship in Brazil in the context of the U.S. elections.
