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The Trump administration has warned a Brazilian supreme court justice who faces possible sanctions from Washington that his order for a rightwing video platform to block a user has no force in the US.
The Department of Justice wrote to Alexandre de Moraes this month about documents allegedly instructing Rumble to remove and demonetise accounts linked to a specific individual, according to a copy of a letter seen by the Financial Times.
It said the directives, including that the company provide the Brazilian court with information on payments to the person, were “made under threat of monetary and other penalties”.
“To the extent that these documents direct Rumble to undertake specific actions in the United States, we respectfully advise that such directives are not enforceable judicial orders in the United States.”
Moraes is a divisive figure in Brazil where he has led a fierce campaign against digital misinformation, forcing sites to take down accounts and posts deemed to be spreading fake news or hate speech.
He attracted worldwide attention last year for briefly banning Elon Musk’s X until it complied with his rulings, before blocking Rumble this February for not following court orders.
But the 56-year-old magistrate now appears to be a target of the Trump administration’s professed crusade to protect free speech. Moraes declined to comment on the DoJ letter. Brazil’s justice ministry confirmed it had received the document.
In a congressional hearing on May 21, US secretary of state Marco Rubio was asked whether Moraes could be subject to sanctions under the Magnitsky Act, which targets foreign officials over corruption or human rights abuses.
“That is under review right now and it’s a great possibility,” Rubio replied. The comments sparked a diplomatic scramble by Brasília to prevent the imposition of sanctions on the magistrate.
Rubio this week announced a policy restricting visas for foreign officials who “censor” American companies, citizens and residents, mentioning Latin America and Europe.
Although the DoJ letter did not reveal the individual allegedly targeted by the judge’s orders, it appeared to refer to a case over which Rumble launched a lawsuit against Moraes in Florida earlier this year, together with Trump Media & Technology Group.
The video platform’s lawyer, Martin de Luca, accused the judge of “extraterritorial censorship” by seeking to block the accounts of a Brazilian conservative blogger who he said had sought political asylum in the US.
A federal judge dismissed a request for a temporary restraining order in the case, finding that the pronouncements issued by Moraes were not properly served and that he had taken no action to enforce them in the US.
The Brazilian supreme justice is praised by progressives in his homeland for saving Latin America’s largest democracy, but reviled by rightwingers who accuse him of censorship.
Moraes is overseeing a case in which Brazil’s former hard-right president Jair Bolsonaro is being prosecuted for an alleged coup plot. Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, has been lobbying in Washington for sanctions against Moraes.
The DoJ letter told Moraes that enforcement of a foreign judicial ruling required initiating US court proceedings. It also expressed “concerns” at how the documents were served on Rumble, affirming that it must occur through an “appropriate channel” in line with international law and agreements between the two countries.
The DoJ declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Beatriz Langella in São Paulo
