{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413336", "Smith calls on Brazil\u2019s government to reverse course and to restore free speech and democracy", "2024-09-11", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today called on Brazil\u2019s government to reverse its recent decision to block access to X (formerly known as Twitter) and ban its citizens from accessing the popular social media platform.\n\n\u201cThe government of Brazil has both raised the stakes and hit a new low\u2014it has expanded from persecuting political opposition by removing them from social media to banning one of the biggest social news networks in the world and making it illegal for Brazilians to access it,\u201d said Smith, the Chair of the House Global Human Rights Subcommittee.\n\n\u201cBrazil must immediately reverse course,\u201d said Smith. \u201cThreats to free speech are threats to free elections and to democracy itself.\u201d\n\nSmith, who has long been an outspoken advocate in Congress for victims of human rights violations, chaired a congressional hearing in May examining Brazil\u2019s extensive human rights abuses. In advance of his hearing, Smith also requested information from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on allegations against the government of Brazil.\n\nEarlier this year, Smith also hosted a news conference on Capitol Hill where Brazilians who had been de-platformed from social media by order of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes shared personal testimonies of government persecution.\n\nSmith said he asked de Moraes about the allegations in a letter, but has yet to hear back from the Supreme Court Justice.\n\n\u201cOn June 21, I sent a letter to Minister Alexandre de Moraes asking for information about allegations regarding de Moraes\u2019s role in widespread human rights violations committed,\u201d said Smith. \u201cMinister de Moraes did not reply\u2014nor did I hear from the Presidents of the Federal Senate and Chamber of Deputies, who also received my letter to de Moraes.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn order to respond to the crisis de Moraes has created in Brazil, I am now working with colleagues on legislation about the matter,\u201d said Smith, who thanked all the Brazilian patriots who are fighting for freedom and democratic government.\n\nSmith, an international human rights leader, has long had grave concerns about human rights in Brazil under President Lula\u2019s rule. In 2009, Smith traveled to Brazil to successfully fight for the return of a New Jersey child who had been abducted and held there for five years.\n\nAs part of that effort, Smith authored the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act, the landmark law that provides the U.S. State Department with a variety of tools to pressure foreign governments and bring home American children abducted overseas.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413336"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8307821117341518, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}