President Donald Trump’s media company filed a lawsuit against a Brazilian Supreme Court justice. The company accuses the justice of violating free speech protections in the United States. The justice imposed a ban on a right-wing supporter of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The lawsuit was filed in Tampa federal court shortly after Bolsonaro was charged in Brazil. He was accused of involvement in a potential coup to remain in office after losing the 2022 election to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors claim that the alleged plot included a scheme to poison Lula and assassinate Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is a prominent judicial adversary of the former president.
Trump Media & Technology Group, based in Sarasota, Florida, which runs the Truth Social media platform, initiated the lawsuit in the U.S. Rumble, a video-sharing platform that collaborates with Truth Social and promotes itself as a haven for free expression, also joined as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
In their 39-page complaint, the plaintiffs allege that Moraes overstepped his legal authority and international law by seeking to shut down the U.S.-based accounts of a right-wing Brazilian commentator who is seeking asylum in the U.S. The blogger is identified in the complaint only as “Political Dissident A.”
“Justice Moraes cannot dictate the contours of lawful discourse within the United States,” plaintiffs’ attorneys from New York-based Boies Schiller said in the complaint. “The United States has long upheld free speech as a cornerstone of its constitutional framework, enshrined in the First Amendment, and has consistently opposed censorship.”
According to the complaint, Rumble said it faced a fine of $9,000 a day and a shutdown of its service in Brazil if it doesn’t abide by Moraes’ order. The Trump media organization, although not the apparent target of Moraes’ gag order, said Truth Social’s operations would be impacted should Rumble be taken offline.
Moraes has emerged as Brazil’s chief legal powerbroker and would-be defender of the country’s democracy following the far- right Bolsonaro’s shock election in 2018.
What started as a judicial examination of fake news and threats to the high court has since evolved into a sprawling investigation into Bolsonaro himself on allegations of corruption and attempts to destabilize the country by testing the boundaries of free expression. In the run-up to the 2022 election, Bolsonaro used his sizable social media presence to raise unfounded doubts about Brazil’s electronic voting system.
Unlike the U.S., where the First Amendment is an almost sacred text taught in every elementary school, Brazil’s Constitution, drafted in the aftermath of the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, is more unwieldy and offers fewer protections for freedom of speech.
Under Moraes’ orders, police in 2020 raided the homes and froze the social media accounts of several far-right supporters and YouTube supporters of Bolsonaro.
Lawmakers loyal to the former army captain have pushed for Moraes’ impeachment and even some critics of Bolsonaro have questioned the justice’s aggressive tactics.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
