10-9-2024 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Agency for International Development for refusing to provide records related to the U.S. government’s involvement in recent global efforts to suppress free speech, specifically the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France and social media censorship in Brazil.
On August 29, 2024, after French authorities detained Mr. Durov and charged him with a host of crimes related to alleged illegal activity on Telegram, AFL launched an investigation to determine the Biden-Harris Administration’s involvement in his arrest.
Telegram, which Mr. Durov founded, is a secure social media and messaging platform with nearly 1 billion users worldwide. If convicted, Mr. Durov faces up to 10 years in prison and a $550,000 fine.
Given Mr. Durov’s prominence and the implications these charges could have on free speech around the world, there is significant reason to believe that the Biden-Harris Administration may have had advance knowledge of, or even played a role in, Mr. Durov’s arrest.
On September 10, after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued an order blocking Elon Musk’s X in Brazil, AFL launched an investigation to determine the Biden-Harris Administration’s role in social media censorship by Brazil’s government.
Over the past few years, the Brazilian government has increasingly engaged in censorship efforts in an apparent attempt to silence political dissent. Justice Moraes has demanded that X suspend or remove more than 150 accounts of government critics, including conservative members of the federal legislature, members of the judiciary, journalists, a gospel singer, and even a pop radio station — all for allegedly spreading “disinformation.”
Justice Moraes’ order blocking X is a serious escalation in the Brazilian government’s use of censorship to silence critics — and an unprecedented attack on free speech.
Last week, a shocking new report by Michael Shellenberger revealed that U.S. government agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, have been “funding pro-censorship advocacy and advising the Brazilian government on how to engage in censorship.”
On the heels of this report, Justice Moraes lifted the ban on X in Brazil and allowed the social media company to go back online this week.
Government censorship and attacks on free speech are fundamentally anti-American. The American people — and the world — must know if the Biden-Harris Administration supported or coordinated with the Brazilian government to censor an American social media company committed to upholding free speech.
Despite meeting the legal requirements to be granted expedited processing in these investigations, AFL has not received any communications or records from these agencies pertaining to either matter.
AFL will continue working to expose and combat the tyrannical Biden-Harris Administration assault on free speech.
Statement from Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Executive Director:
“The American people have every right to know whether their government and their taxpayer dollars are being used to suppress free speech around the world. The collusive censorship enterprise is well-resourced, well-placed, highly motivated, and willing to do anything to silence viewpoints and voices with which they disagree. We are committed to getting to the bottom of this and will deliver the truth for the American people,” said Gene Hamilton.
Read the complaint here.
