2 weeks ago
Last Updated: August 31, 2024, 07:07 IST
Brazil
The standoff with Musk began when Moraes ordered the suspension of several X accounts belonging to supporters of Brazil's former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. (File Photo)
Brazilian Supreme Court suspends Elon Musk's X social media after Musk fails to comply with orders. The ruling is part of a broader fight against disinformation
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was left fuming on Friday after a Brazilian Supreme Court judge ordered the suspension of his X social media network in the country, following a months-long standoff in South America’s largest nation.
‘Bedrock of democracy’
“Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” the billionaire wrote on X. The judge, Alexandre de Moraes, handed down the ruling after Musk failed to comply with an order to name a new legal representative for the company. Musk reacted with fury, branding Moraes an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge” and accusing him of “trying to destroy democracy in Brazil.”
‘Free speech absolutist’
Musk has previously declared himself a “free speech absolutist,” but since he took over the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022 he has been accused of turning it into a megaphone for right-wing conspiracy theories. He is a vocal supporter of former US president Donald Trump’s bid to regain the White House.
Moraes ordered the “complete suspension of the operation of” X in the country, telling the local authorities to take “all necessary measures” to implement the order within 24 hours. He threatened a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) to anyone who used “technological subterfuges” to get around the block, such as a VPN. The social media platform has more than 22 million users in Brazil.
Musk shut X’s business operations in Brazil earlier this month, claiming Moraes had threatened the company’s previous legal representative with arrest to force compliance with “censorship orders.” On Wednesday, Moraes told Musk he had 24 hours to find a new representative or he would face suspension. Shortly after the deadline passed, X said in a statement that it expected Moraes to shut it down “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
‘Who does Musk think he is?’
The standoff with Musk began when Moraes ordered the suspension of several X accounts belonging to supporters of Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who tried to discredit the voting system in the 2022 election, which he lost. Brazilian authorities are investigating whether Bolsonaro plotted a coup attempt to prevent current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from assuming office in January 2023.
In April, Moraes ordered an investigation of Musk, accusing him of reactivating some of the banned accounts. On Thursday, Musk’s satellite internet operator Starlink said it had received an order from Moraes that froze its accounts and prevented it from conducting financial transactions in Brazil. Starlink alleged that the order “is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied — unconstitutionally — against X.”
(With agency inputs)
