For more than three decades, foreign policy experts have viewed Brazil as a relatively stable democracy. In 1988, after Brazil ratified its democratic constitution after a quarter-century of dictatorship, many people lauded it as far more progressive than the constitution of the US and other Western nations. In the 35 years since, Brazil has grown to be the economic superpower of Latin America, with 216 million people and the 11th largest economy in the world, an apparent model for other post-dictatorial developing nations.
But in just a few short months, Brazil has earned the reputation of a nation slipping back into repressive authoritarianism and censorship, raising serious questions about its status as a model for other developing nations. The censorship is coming from the president of Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court (“TSE”), Alexandre de Moraes, who has used his unique powers to investigate, prosecute, and de-platform high-profile people, including “the Joe Rogan of Brazil,” for things they’ve said online.
...de Moraes has censored a shocking number of high-profile people in a remarkably short period of time. In addition to censoring Brazil’s Joe Rogan, de Moraes banned the social media accounts, froze the bank accounts, and revoked the passport of Rodrigo Constantino, an economist and writer who describes himself as a classical liberal. In total, de Moraes has singlehandedly banned over 100 Brazilians on social media between July 2020 and April 2023.
“People are scared,” Constantino told Public. “I am scared.”
The same censorship process is effectively creating a secret Star Chamber-like process of persecution. De Moraes has explicitly prevented Constantino and others from defending themselves publicly. When asked what he might have done to inspire such prosecution, Constantino told Public that if he revealed the evidence de Moraes is citing for his alleged crime, de Moraes could punish him for revealing state secrets.
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