In recent weeks, the struggle between Elon Musk and Alexandre de Moraes has taken a dramatic turn, with American Representative Jim Jordan playing a key role. As the chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, Jordan is one of the most important figures in American legislative hierarchy and is equivalent to the presidency of the Constitution and Justice Committee of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies.
Jim Jordan, a staunch conservative known for his uncompromising stance, has been in Congress since 1994 and has never lost an election. He represents Ohio’s fourth district, which includes much of the central region of the state. His concern for free speech did not arise now – in October 2022, he wrote: “Two things the left hates: Elon Musk and the First Amendment.” However, his position on the Judiciary Committee made him a key figure in this struggle.
Last week, Jordan sent a formal request to Musk’s company to forward all of Moraes’ decisions that determined content removal or user blocking from Twitter. With these documents in hand, Jordan produced a report released this Wednesday by the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. The report includes 88 letters sent by Moraes to Twitter via TSE (Superior Electoral Court) and STF (Supreme Federal Court), most of which do not even provide justification for removing content.
The report exposes a worrying case study of how a government can justify censorship in the name of combating hate speech and subversion to order. After its release, STF press office only commented that all STF decisions are substantiated and that these documents presented in report are just letters with court orders sent to platforms. In contrast with this criticism from Brazilian authorities, Jim Jordan’s actions have been praised as an important step towards protecting freedom of expression on social media platforms based in both countries.