In August, Elon Musk announced the closure of X (formerly Twitter) operations in Brazil, as part of a legal battle that the founder of Tesla and SpaceX has been waging for months with Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes, whom he has called a “dictator” and accuses of censoring X.
In recent years, Judge Moraes has ordered the blocking of accounts of influential figures in Brazil’s ultraconservative movements, mainly since the attempts by supporters of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, an admirer of Musk, to discredit the electronic voting system during the presidential elections won by the leftist Lula.
In April, X admitted that users of several blocked accounts had managed to bypass the restrictions.
Musk is also the subject of a Brazilian investigation into “digital militias” that alleges Bolsonaro and his inner circle used public funds to orchestrate online disinformation campaigns during his presidency (2019-2022).
According to Moraes, the social network is failing to comply with his orders to block accounts accused of disinformation. However, Musk appeals, saying that Moraes’ “demands” would “require him to (secretly) violate Brazilian, Argentine, American and international laws.”
With information from Reuters.
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