Brazil’s X ban ‘should scare everyone’: Tim Young fears for end of free speech after ‘totalitarian’ crackdown

US media commentator Tim Young has questioned the decision to ban X, formerly Twitter, in Brazil, saying on GBN America that it’s a ruling that should “scare everyone”.

Young joined Mark Dolan on GBN America to discuss Elon Musk’s platform now no longer being readily available in Brazil, with the country’s Supreme Court unanimously upholding the decision on Tuesday.

“This is what totalitarians or tyrants want to do”, Young told Mark.

“This regime doesn’t want people having free speech or be able to combat anything they put out.

“A lot of these governments trying to restrict free speech, they’re the ones putting out the disinformation they claim is out in the ether.”

Asked if the crackdown is reflective of a wider theme where left-wing governments are less in favour of free speech, Young said: “It really seems that way.”

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He added: “It’s kind of scary. There are a lot of free speech laws coming up around the world and it’s the beginning of a slippery slope of the end of free speech.

“It should scare everyone. It seems to be creeping in here in America as well where we’ve got Kamala Harris.

“At one point, she said she wanted to get rid of X on the internet as well. It’s really scary, to be honest with you.

“As a pundit, who knows where I end up if free speech keeps getting limited? Probably a gulag.”

Millions of Brazilian X users have found themselves unable to access the network as of Saturday morning with internet providers and mobile phone companies beginning to enforce the ban.

The country’s top court has been at loggerheads with the tech billionaire in recent months.

Alexandre de Moraes, the influential Supreme Court judge, had been calling for a purge of anti-democratic, right-wing voices in the wake of the January 2023 uprising in Brasilia.

The unrest was carried out by supporters of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro.

Musk has aligned himself with figures like Bolsonaro and his US ally Donald Trump, and he has accused Moraes of shutting down free speech in a series of public attacks.

“He is a dictator and a fraud, not a justice”, the tech mogul said of Moraes shortly after the decision was made.