SAO PAULO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Media platform X said on

Saturday it would close its operations in Brazil "effective

immediately" due to what it called "censorship orders" by

Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes.

X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, claims Moraes secretly

threatened one of the company's legal representatives in the

South American country with arrest if it did not comply with

legal orders to take down some content from its platform.

The social media giant published pictures of a document

allegedly signed by Moraes which says a daily fine of 20,000

reais ($3,653) and an arrest decree would be imposed against X

representative Rachel Nova Conceicao if the platform did not

fully comply to Moraes' orders.

"To protect the safety of our staff, we have made the

decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective

immediately," X said.

Brazil's Supreme Court, where Moraes has a seat, told

Reuters it would not speak on the matter and would not confirm

nor deny the authenticity of the document shared by X.

The X service remains available to the people of Brazil, the

platform said on Saturday.

Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to block certain

accounts, as he investigates so-called "digital militias" that

have been accused of spreading fake news and hate messages

during the government of far-right former President Jair

Bolsonaro.

Moraes opened an inquiry earlier this year into the

billionaire after Musk said he would reactivate accounts on X

that the judge had ordered blocked. Musk has called the Moraes'

decisions regarding X "unconstitutional."

After Musk's challenges, X representatives reversed course

and told Brazil's Supreme Court that the social media giant

would comply with the legal rulings.

Lawyers representing X in Brazil in April told the Supreme

Court that "operational faults" have allowed users who were

ordered blocked to stay active on the social media platform,

after Moraes had asked X to explain why it allegedly had not

fully complied with his decisions.

Musk, in posts on X on Saturday, called Moraes an "utter

disgrace to justice" and said the company could not have agreed

to the judge's "secret censorship and private information

handover demands."