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Lawfare Daily: Sanctions, Speech, and Sovereignty in Brazil

Renee DiResta, Laís Martins, James Görgen, Joan Barata, Jen Patja
Tuesday, September 9, 2025, 7:00 AM
Discussing the intersection of tech and geopolitics in Brazil.

Published by The Lawfare Institute
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For today’s episode, Lawfare Contributing Editor Renée DiResta interviews Joan Barata, Visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Porto; Laís Martins, journalist at The Intercept Brazil and Fellow at Tech Policy Press; and James Görgen, adviser to Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, to discuss the dramatic intersection of tech policy and geopolitical pressure unfolding in Brazil. They discuss the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro for his role in the January 8 insurrection, the legal battles surrounding social media regulation and platform liability, the influence of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, and the controversy sparked by U.S. sanctions and tariffs. Together, they examine whether the intersection of tech and geopolitics in Brazil is an outlier—or a preview of what’s coming for democracies worldwide.

Read more on this topic from this episode’s guests:

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Renée DiResta is an Associate Research Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown. She is a contributing editor at Lawfare.
Laís Martins is a Brazilian investigative journalist based in São Paulo at The Intercept Brazil and fellow at Tech Policy Press.
James Görgen is an adviser to Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services.
Joan Barata is a senior legal fellow at the Future of Free Speech Project at Vanderbilt University and a fellow at Stanford’s Program on Platform Regulation.
Jen Patja is the editor of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security, and serves as Lawfare’s Director of Audience Engagement. Previously, she was Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics and Deputy Director of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier, where she worked to deepen public understanding of constitutional democracy and inspire meaningful civic participation.
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