White House targets Brazilian judge for net 'censorship'

JACK NICAS

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»Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, is a political Rorschach test of sorts.

Over the past several years, he has undertaken an aggressive campaign to rid the Brazilian internet of what he says are threats against Brazil's democratic institutions, ordering the removal of hundreds of social media accounts in the process, nearly all of them right-wing.

As a result, the left in Brazil considers him a saviour of the nation's democracy, helping to protect it against an attempted coup in 2022.

To the right, he is a dangerous government censor who has abused his power to silence conservative voices online.

Elon Musk has challenged him, US President Donald Trump's media company has sued him, and the former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, is accused of plotting to assassinate him.

Now, for the first time, he appears to be in the crosshairs of the US governmenta development that could cause a diplomatic rift between the Western Hemisphere's two largest nations.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the United States would restrict visas from foreign officials who are "responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States".

In an online post, Mr Rubio noted Latin America as an example of a region where he believed such censorship has been a problem.