Judge Alexandre de Moraes and Elon Musk of Brazil’s Supreme Court have been embroiled in a public feud for months
After a months-long standoff over disinformation, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Friday banned billionaire Elon Musk’s social media network X in the country. The judge, Alexandre de Moraes, ordered the “immediate, complete and comprehensive suspension of” X’s activities in the country and told the national communications agency to take “all necessary measures” to implement the order.
Alexandre de Moraes also threatened a 50,000 reais ($8,900) fine to anyone who used “technological subterfuges” to bypass the block, such as a VPN or the virtual private network.
The court controversy between Elon Musk and Brazil
The controversy between Elon Musk and Alexandre de Moraes began when the Supreme Court judge ordered the suspension of several accounts on to discredit. which he lost.
Brazilian authorities are investigating whether Bolsonaro plotted an attempted coup to prevent current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from coming to power in January 2023.
In April, Moraes ordered an investigation into Musk, accusing him of reactivating some of the banned accounts.
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X claims that Moraes threatened to arrest one of the company’s legal representatives in Brazil if he did not comply.
Musk’s platform had closed all its Brazilian offices due to what the judge called “censorship”, although the service had remained available to users in the country.
“We have the right to defend fundamental rights. Those who violate democracy, who violate basic human rights, whether in person or through social media, must be held accountable,” Moraes said in a speech on Friday, apparently referring to X.
Elon Musk’ X banned in Brazil
The Brazilian Supreme Court judge said the suspension would remain in effect until all related court orders against had been beaten for ignoring court orders. .
The order will also be valid until a representative of the company is appointed in the country, he said.
Moraes also froze the financial assets of Musk’s Starlink by issuing an order to freeze the accounts of the satellite internet network that has rapidly expanded the number of users in Brazil.
On Wednesday, he told Musk he had 24 hours to find a new representative or he would be suspended. However, when the deadline passed, X said in a statement that he expected Moraes to close it “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
X reportedly has more than 22 million users in Brazil.
What Elon Musk said
Elon Musk, who took over
He also accused him of “trying to destroy democracy in Brazil.”
“Freedom of expression is the basis of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” he wrote on X.
“They are shutting down the greatest source of truth in Brazil,” Musk added.
(With input from the agency)
