🙊 Speak No Evil on social media

Good morning! Did you know that nowhere has more Uber drivers than Brazil? The country has 1.4 million motorists on the ride-hailing app, according to the company’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi.

Brazil-US tensions rise over free speech standards

Since video platform Rumble and the Trump Media & Technology Group sued Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes in Florida last week, questions have been swirling about how the conservative backlash against online content moderation might affect Brazil-US relations. Wednesday only deepened that uncertainty, reinforcing the sense that bilateral ties will be tested — though the extent to which they will remains unclear.

Driving the news. The U.S. government threw its weight behind conservative calls for Brazil to adopt American free speech standards, with the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs wading into the debate with a post on social media (that was replicated by the US Embassy in Brazil’s account).

• “Respect for sovereignty is a two-way street with all US partners, including Brazil,” the bureau posted. “Blocking access to information and imposing fines on US-based companies for refusing to censor people living in the United States is incompatible with democratic values, including freedom of expression.”

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