Brazil goes against X, this is Elon Musk's new lawsuit

Musk, also head of electric car firm Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX, said Moraes “has betrayed the Constitution” by restricting freedom of expression, and “should resign or be removed.”

He also threatened to disobey court orders to block user accounts at X, which the businessman bought in 2022.

In response, Moraes said Sunday that he will impose fines of about $20,000 a day for each blocked account that X reactivates and ordered the opening of an investigation against Musk, accusing him of “criminal instrumentalization” of the platform formerly known as Twitter.

In addition to this pair of actions, Musk launched a public debate, as he tweeted to make the discussion between them public. Although he did it in a mocking way.

“Tell me, Alexandre, is misinformation in the room with us now?” Musk wrote, a reference to a well-known meme.

Given this behavior, the platform may be investigated in Brazil, for the alleged crimes of “criminal and intentional manipulation”, as well as obstruction of Justice. The decision was published on the Supreme Court website on Sunday after the magnate, in a message on his account on X, accused De Moraes of imposing “censorship.”

Musk also attacked the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, saying that Judge Alexandre de Moraes has him “tied.”

“How did Alexandre become dictator of Brazil? He has Lula tied up,” Musk posted tonight on X, formerly Twitter.

Among the blocks that the platform has made are accounts on social networks, especially those of supporters of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).

Right-wing politicians, including federal deputies, published a manifesto defending Musk and calling for Moraes' dismissal. The tag “Impeachment” was trending on X in Brazil.

On the other hand, the president of the STF, Luis Roberto Barroso, warned in a statement that “all companies operating in Brazil” must obey their authorities, while the magistrate stated that Brazil went through “a life or death struggle for democratic rule of law” during and after the 2022 presidential election, which Bolsonaro narrowly lost to leftist da Silva.

The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, rejected the label of “censorship” for his part, and urged legislators to regulate social networks to prevent people from abusing the platforms to “manipulate disinformation, spread hatred and violence,” in comments published by the G1 site.

With information from AFP.