ADF International
CV NEWS FEED // An international free speech special rapporteur visited Brazil this week to investigate the government’s continued censorship of citizens’ free speech rights.
Since 2019, Brazilian authorities have restricted speech online that contradicts the current political figures in power, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International.
CatholicVote previously reported that one of the most drastic forms of censorship occurred in September 2024, when authorities banned the social media platform X. The platform was reinstated in October 2024.
ADF International reported Feb. 17 that Pedro Vaca, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ special rapporteur for free expression, met with five Brazilian lawmakers who have filed a lawsuit over violations of their free speech rights.
Marcel van Hattem, one of the politicians, said in ADF’s news release that Brazil has witnessed an “egregious silencing of political voices, citizens, journalists or anyone who might share different viewpoints” from those currently in control. ADF is representing the politicians in the lawsuit.
“We can’t afford to lose Brazil to authoritarianism, and I am grateful to the Special Rapporteur for taking an urgent look at this crisis,” van Hattem stated. “These attempts to silence and censor cannot be allowed to stand.”
ADF International legal counsel Julio Pohl celebrated Vaca’s visit to Brazil, saying that it “signals that Brazil’s egregious human rights violations have not gone unnoticed.” He added that the Feb. 9 return of Rumble, a free speech video platform, is also significant.
“Censorship has no place in a free society,” Pohl stated, “and it’s time for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to exercise its authority to hold Brazil accountable for the clampdown on free speech.”
