2024-04-08 08:30:00
A judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil ordered this Sunday the opening of an investigation contra Elon Muskowner of the X platform, who accused him of “censorship” y asked for his resignation for that social network.
In a court ruling seen by the agency AFPthe judge of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes referred to an alleged “criminal instrumentalization of X”formerly known as Twitter, from the magnate, also head of the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the aerospace company SpaceX.
He also ruled that “the network social X must refrain from disobeying any court orderincluding reactivating an account whose blocking has been ordered by the Supreme Court”, with a penalty of a fine of 100,000 reais (about 18,300 euros, more than 19,700 dollars) per reactivated profile.
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In recent years, the judge himself has ordered the blocking of accounts in Xsome of which are suspected of spreading disinformation.
“Social networks are not lawless lands“, he stressed in capital letters in his sentence.
On Saturday night, Musk began a series of attacks against the senior judge in X, in particular saying that he was going to challenge their legal decisions by “lifting all restrictions” imposed on themalthough without giving further details.
“We will probably lose all our revenue in Brazil and will have to close our offices there. But principles are more important than profits“he insisted.
On Sunday he attacked again demand the resignation or dismissal of Alexandre de Moraes. “This judge has blatantly and repeatedly betrayed the Constitution and the people of Brazil. He should resign or be removed from office“, he stated on the social network that he acquired mostly in 2022.
The billionaire also promised to soon publish “all of Alexandre de Moraes’ (judicial) requests and how these requests violate the law.”
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Who is Alexandre de Moraes
Judge with an iron character and divisive figure, tyrannical for some and fervent defender of democracy for othersAlexandre de Moraes is one of the 11 members of the STF.
Also, the magistrate presides over the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), in charge of organize and supervise popular voting instances.
Alexandre de Moraes has led the fight against disinformation in Brazil in recent years and ordered the blocking of accounts of influential figures on social networks, most of them supporters of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).
The latter was declared ineligible in June 2023 by the TSE, chaired by Alexandre de Moraes, accused of having spread false information about the Brazilian electoral system.
Bolsonaro is also being investigated for a “coup attempt“to avoid his electoral defeat against the current left-wing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvain October 2022 after the invasion of a crowd of his supporters to the headquarters of the three powers, in Brasilia.
Shortly after the Tesla boss’s first attacks on the judge, on Saturday, Jorge Messias, attorney general of the Union, responsible for defending the interests of Lula’s government, called for “urgent regulation of social networks.”
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“We cannot live in a society in which billionaires living abroad control social networks and they are willing to violate the rule of law, disobeying court orders and threatening our authorities,” he wrote in X, without mentioning Musk by name.
Many of Bolsonaro’s supporters, however, praised the billionaire’s attitude. “I hope that he has initiated something historic: the return of freedom to our country,” said deputy Nikolas Ferreira in X.
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