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Alexandre de Moraes
Brazilian jurist and politician (born 1968) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Alexandre de Moraes (Brazilian Portuguese: [aleˈʃɐ̃dɾi dʒi moˈɾajs]; born 13 December 1968) is a Brazilian judge, former politician, former president of the Superior Electoral Court, and current justice of the Supreme Federal Court. Moraes was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Michel Temer in 2017 when serving as Minister of Justice and Public Security.[3] Previously, Moraes had acted as Secretary for Public Security in the state of São Paulo and had been a member of the Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office.[4]
Moraes has generated wide public attention in Brazil and abroad for ordering several arrests, search warrants, and terminations of social media accounts of individuals and groups involved or suspected to be involved in planning coups and propagating fake news, in addition to brief nationwide block of widely used platforms that had failed to comply with Brazilian court orders, such as Telegram and Twitter, until their regularization under Brazilian law.[5][6][7] He has been a widely controversial figure since, gathering a great number of both supporters and opponents. While critics say his measures are authoritarian, abusive, unconstitutional, and partisan, to supporters they are legal, albeit stern, and have been necessary to maintain Brazil's democratic rule, preventing coups and the rise of extremism. Among Moraes's supporters is the current president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,[8] and among his critics is the former president Jair Bolsonaro, American president Donald Trump, and Elon Musk.
Moraes's tenure as president of Brazil's Superior Electoral Court and certain actions he took during the 2022 Brazilian general election have made him the target of criticism, including conspiracy theories, by Bolsonaro and his supporters.[9] After the 2023 Brazilian Congress attack, Moraes ordered several controversial judicial actions, being criticized for combining investigative and judicial functions against the coup planners, authorizing preventive detentions, content removal and blocking of profiles on social networks, generating debates about impartiality, legality and raising concerns about freedom of speech and the limits of judicial power.[10] Moraes classified the coup planners as terrorists, which provoked protests from right-wing Congress members,[11][12] while other political groups from center and left-wing parties, and majority of Brazilians,[13] supports and praises his actions as democratic and accurate following the threats brought by Bolsonaro and his supporters.[14]
In July 2025, the US State Department imposed an entry ban on Moraes and other Supreme Court justices, alleging "political persecution against Jair Bolsonaro" and violations of the basic rights of Brazilians and Americans.[15] Later that month, the US Treasury Department imposed economic sanctions under the Magnitsky Act on Moraes,[16][17][18][19] although he has no accounts, investments or assets in the United States.[20] This measure was widely criticized as Trump's interference in Brazilian national sovereignty and its separation of powers; among those who criticized the application of the Magnitsky Act against Moraes were Bill Browder, the leader of the campaign for its passage, Transparency International, which warned of the risk of institutional instability in Brazil, the non-governmental organization Human Rights First, and the British magazine The Economist. Moraes said he would ignore Magnitsky and that he would remain the rapporteur of the criminal case regarding the coup d'état attempt in Brazil.
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Early life
Alexandre de Moraes studied at the Law School of the University of São Paulo (USP), graduating in 1990.[21] Moraes is an associate professor of the Law School. He received a doctorate in State Law from the same university under the supervision of professor Dalmo Dallari, with a thesis on constitutional jurisdiction.[22]
Career
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Moares was a member of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). In 2002, he was appointed Secretary of Public Security of the State of São Paulo.[21] His management was controversial: he was accused of covering up police violence. One out of every four homicides in the city of São Paulo was committed by the police. In addition, Moraes sent armoured vehicles to suppress left-wing demonstrations.[23]
At the beginning of 2016, he was called upon by Michel Temer. The latter was living under the threat of a hacker who had hacked into the cell phone of his wife, Marcela Temer, and demanded 300,000 reais under penalty of releasing compromising information and photos. Alexandre de Moraes quickly mobilized his police force, assembled a team of 33 investigators and arrested the blackmailer.[23]
Moraes assumed office on 22 March 2017. As minister, he claims to defend a policy of "zero tolerance". He denounced the alleged "criminal attitudes" of leftist movements and justified police violence. He was at the centre of another controversy when the Brazilian newspaper Estadão published an investigation claiming that he had intervened to defend the Transcooper cooperative, suspected of being linked to Brazil's main drug trafficking group, the First Command of the Capital (PCC), which he denied.[21]
On 10 June 2020, Moraes – in response to a legal challenge from three political parties – said the health ministry must "fully re-establish the daily divulgation of epidemiological data on the Covid-19 pandemic", including on its website: "Mr Moraes gave President Jair Bolsonaro's government 48 hours to release the full figures again."[24]
On 16 August 2022, Moraes was elected as the presiding justice of the Superior Electoral Court in a public ceremony with 2,000 guests at the court auditorium. The justice Ricardo Lewandowski took place as his vice-president on duty.[25][26][27]
2020 Brazil judiciary fake news inquiry
In April 2019, Supreme Federal Court president Dias Toffoli, a former legal representative for the Workers' Party (PT) in the presidential campaigns of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 1998, 2002 and 2006,[28] launched an inquiry to investigate personal attacks and statements against court members. Moraes was chosen as its rapporteur.[29] That month, Crusoé magazine reported that a document from Operation Car Wash revealed that then-Solicitor General Toffoli was also involved in the Odebrecht scandal,[30][31][32][33][34][35] according to the company's former chairman Marcelo Odebrecht. On 15 April, Moraes ordered that Crusoé take down the article from their website. Toffoli himself later requested a probe into whether Crusoé illegally leaked the document. The Court's decision on the matter was criticized by outlets such as The Intercept on the basis of censorship and attack on the freedom of the press.[36][37] On 27 May 2020, as part of that same inquiry, the Federal Police launched an operation probing businessmen, bloggers and politicians allied to President Jair Bolsonaro.[38]
On 19 March 2022, Moraes ordered the suspension of the messaging app Telegram, accusing it of repeatedly failing to block accounts spreading disinformation, and ignoring previous court decisions. President Bolsonaro called the ruling "inadmissible", while Telegram founder Pavel Durov blamed the company's failings on email issues, pledging to do a better job.[39]
In October 2022, the Superior Electoral Court gave Moraes the unilateral authority to order the removal of online content that did not comply with previous TSE rulings, as part of an effort to combat disinformation. Bolsonaro supporters and legal experts criticized the move, fearing that it could allow for censorship. Moraes cited the proliferation of false information and hate speech when initially proposing the move to the Superior Electoral Court.[40]
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On 30 October 2022, during the second round of the presidential election between Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva, hundreds of roadblocks set up by the Federal Highway Police (PRF), under orders from the government, prevented voters from going to the polls in Northeastern Brazil. Moraes summoned the director of the PRF, Silvinei Vasques, and threatened him with imprisonment if he did not lift the blockades.[23]
8 January 2023 attacks in Brasília
Shortly after the 8 January 2023 attacks in Brasília, Moraes ordered the arrest of the former commander of the Military Police of the Federal District, Fabio Augusto Vieira, the former secretary of Public Security of the Federal District and former Justice Minister, Anderson Torres, and enacted a federal interference for the removal of the Governor of the Federal District Ibaneis Rocha.[41]
Criticism
Several far-right politicians, members of the private sector, supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro and the right-wing media accused Moraes of practicing nepotism, political interference, political repression, abuse of power and deploying a constitutional dictatorship.[42][43][44][45] American journalist and lawyer Glenn Greenwald has criticized several decisions of Moraes, accusing him of censorship and undermining freedom of speech.[46][better source needed]
Twitter owner Elon Musk, responding to Greenwald on Twitter, said Moraes's moves were "extremely concerning", while Beatriz Rey, a political scientist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said Moraes's approach, while not ideal, was necessary because other branches of government, especially the legislature, had not done their duty.[10] Milly Lacombe, in her column on the news website UOL, added that such concerns ignored a greater danger, evidenced by the protests and a failed attack on Lula's inauguration. And she argued that the far-right poses serious dangers to Brazilian democracy, which should overshadow concerns about freedom of expression or interference by the judiciary. "Moraes acts within the law. He does not act outside his powers as a minister, he does not tear up the constitution, he does not do so under criticism from his peers in the Supreme Court."[47]
Twitter suspension in Brazil
In Brazilian law it is understood that freedom of expression cannot overlap with other rights; for example, media outlets cannot propagate racism, disseminate prejudice or violate people's privacy.[48] The Constitution itself provides that the freedom of one individual cannot harm that of another. Section X of article 5, for example, determines the protection of intimacy, privacy, honor and image of people.[48]
In April 2024, X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk accused Moraes of "brazenly and repeatedly betraying the constitution and people of Brazil" in response to the Supreme Federal Court's order to block several X accounts, arguing combat of digital militias. This in turn resulted in the Supreme Federal Court opening a criminal inquiry against Musk for spreading hate speech, encouragement of violence, data exposure and alleged obstruction of investigations.[49] The exchange has elicited mixed reactions both from Brazilian politicians as well as international netizens.[50][51][52][53] In August 2024, X's press service accused Moraes of threatening to arrest the social network's employees in Brazil for failing to comply with blocking orders. In response, X announced the closure of its representative office in the country. Elon Musk again lashed out at the judge and proposed impeaching him.[54][55]
On 30 August 2024, X was suspended nationwide for failing to follow the directive, and Moraes set a fine of 50,000 Brazilian reais (roughly $8,900 USD) per day for anyone using VPNs to access it.[56] Shortly thereafter, X created the @AlexandreFiles account, purportedly in order to "reveal the unlawful directives issued to X by Alexandre de Moraes" and posted several allegedly illegal court requests that had made of X.[57][58] On 2 September, the Supreme Court of Brazil upheld the ruling by Moraes.[59]
Days later, Musk attempted to circumvent the X suspension by migrating part of his operations to computers from the company CloudFlare and others that offer a service called reverse proxy. He said he did so because "the X blockade in Brazil harmed service to other Latin American countries and that the return of availability for Brazilians was an 'unforeseen' side effect." However, the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) denied this and stated that "the change in servers indicates 'deliberate intent to disregard the STF order.'" On 20 September, Musk backed down, lowered his tone against the Brazilian justice system and accepted the decision to appoint a legal representative in Brazil.[60][61][62]
According to Moraes, social media has been a major catalyst for harmful speech, whether it be fake news or an attack on the [judicial/political] system. Through these platforms, extremist groups have been found in "bubbles" to spread hate and attack democratic instruments:
"An extremist populism, mainly from the far-right, that has learned from the strategic mistakes of the Nazi and fascist regimes and, instead of attacking the system, has been corroding it from within. Instead of saying that democracy is bad, it says that the instruments are being rigged. Instead of saying that freedom of the press is bad, it says that it defends [the press], but that the media is distorting freedom of expression [...] People who were ashamed of making racist jokes now see social media as a racist social bubble, and they are now proud. They are cowards in real life and brave on social media. What made this possible? These issues linked to the flaws of democracy, especially the issue of income distribution". He concluded that the excessive concentration of income in the hands of a few, together with an economic crisis in several sectors, and enhanced by [social] networks, would have encouraged attacks on democracy.[63]
Trump administration sanctions
On 18 July 2025, after authorizing an operation against Jair Bolsonaro, who was required to wear an electronic tag and be confined to his home at night and on weekends, Alexandre de Moraes was attacked by the Trump administration over his visa. The decision was announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and would have consequences for Moraes's family and "allies". According to Rubio, "the political prosecution of Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes against Jair Bolsonaro has created a complex of persecution and censorship so widespread that it not only violates the fundamental rights of Brazilians, but also transcends Brazil's borders and targets Americans." The American diplomat concluded the text by stating that he "ordered the immediate suspension of the visas of Alexandre de Moraes and his allies, as well as those of their immediate family members."[16][64][65][66]
On 30 July 2025, Moraes was added to the sanctions list established by the US government under the Magnitsky Act, despite the fact that he has no accounts, investments, or assets in the US.[19] As a result, the minister might even have difficulty receiving his salary, despite being paid by Banco do Brasil. Despite being a Brazilian institution, the bank maintains operational and financial ties to the international system, which could lead to certain services being restricted to avoid fines.[67]
The leader of the campaign for the passage of the Magnitsky Act, William Browder, criticized the sanction against Moraes, calling it a "shameful moment" and stating the judge does not fit the criteria for such a measure,[68][69][70] and claimed that the situation is the "first clear abuse" of Magnitsky.[71] Browder argued Trump was attempting to address political issues through legislation.[68] Transparency International also criticized the application of the Magnitsky Act to Moraes, calling it "alarming and unacceptable", viewing it as politically motivated and warning of the risk of institutional instability in Brazil due to such "interference by a foreign government" that disrespects "national sovereignty and the separation of powers".[72] The American non-governmental organization Human Rights First stated the enforcement of the Magnitsky Act shows Trump is seeking "impunity for close political allies"; according to a senior director of the organization, Trump would be willing to start a trade war and other "extreme" measures to protect Bolsonaro from proceedings related to the 8 January coup d'état attempt.[73]
British magazine The Economist criticized the American decision, stating they were overreacting and highlighting the unprecedented nature of applying the Magnitsky Act in this case, arguing that it could backfire. According to the article, the measure would strengthen Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's narrative that Bolsonaro and his allies are "traitors" to the nation. The Economist also noted Moraes acts within Brazilian law and portrayed the justice as "unshakable" in the face of pressure—having flown to São Paulo to watch a match of his team on the very same day the sanctions were announced.[74] According to Fundação Getulio Vargas researcher and Ibmec professor Leonardo Paz Neves, the sanction against Moraes was a strategy by Trump to once again avoid the expression "Trump Always Chickens Out", since on the same day a decree was published listing nearly 700 items exempted from the tariff hike on Brazilian goods.[75]
On 1 August, during the reopening session of the Supreme Federal Court, Moraes declared the Magnitsky Act would be ignored in his case and that he would remain the rapporteur of the criminal case regarding the coup d'état attempt in Brazil. Justices Luís Roberto Barroso and Gilmar Mendes also criticized the sanction and defended their colleague. Moraes stated that "pseudo-patriotic Brazilians" act "in a cowardly and treacherous manner" with the aim of subjecting the functioning of the Supreme Court "to the scrutiny of a foreign state", adding that these individuals "think they are dealing with people of their own kind, also militia members".[76] On 4 August, justice Edson Fachin declared the application of the Magnitsky Act represents "undue interference" and a "threat" to judicial independence.[77]
In an interview to The Washington Post, Moares said: "we'll do what’s right" and expressed his admiration for the constitutional history of the United States, but remained firm in upholding judicial decisions.[78] He defends the legitimacy of his actions, stating that there is no need for adjustments in his conduct or in the way he carries out his work, and argued that the "accelerated pace of certain processes", such as the criminal action involving the coup plot, is justified by the presence of defendants in prison.[79]
United States Department of State report
On 12 August 2025, the Trump administration stated that the human rights situation in Brazil had deteriorated and accused the Judiciary of adopting measures that would undermine freedom of expression. Published by the United States Department of State, the report—which assesses the human rights situation worldwide—specifically named justice Alexandre de Moraes: "Court records reveal that he personally ordered the suspension of more than 100 user accounts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), disproportionately suppressing the speech of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, instead of adopting narrower measures to penalize content that incited imminent illegal action or harassment".[80][81]
The same report, which also mentioned a deterioration of human rights in South Africa, ignored the anti-democratic efforts of Hungary's government, omitted the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip caused by Israel, and softened its tone on Nayib Bukele's El Salvador, ignoring accusations of human rights violations in that country.[82][83][84] Critics claimed it was politically motivated; among them, former Department of State official Josh Paul, who noted that the document "demonstrates what happens when political agendas take precedence over facts". The previous year's report had found no significant changes in the human rights situation in either Brazil or South Africa.[83] Established democracies in Europe were also criticized in this report by the Trump administration; according to the document, France and Germany had "credible reports of serious restrictions on freedom of expression".[85]
The non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch accused the United States government of political manipulation and lies in the document; according to the organization, by ignoring violations in allied countries, there was an "exercise in cover-up and deception", turning the report into "a weapon that makes autocrats appear palatable and downplays the abuses that occur in those places". Human Rights Watch considered that the 2025 edition of the document undermined its credibility, also accusing Trump of manipulation in the case of Brazil.[84]
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Political views
Since becoming a member of the Superior Electoral Court, Moraes has refused to express his political opinions publicly. He was previously known for his conservative views on economic issues and his support for tougher methods in fighting crime. With Moraes, tougher decisions are also expected in relation to the prison system and drug consumption, in addition to more developed stances on public spending cuts.[86] Carlos Velloso, a former president of the Supreme Federal Court, described Moraes as "a centrist jurist, neither too conservative nor too liberal. There are no excesses for any of these extremes."[87]
Personal life
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Moraes is married to Viviane Barci de Moraes and has three children. He is Catholic.[21][23]
Notes
- Discharged from 7 February 2017 to 22 February 2017[1]
References
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