Elon Musk has defied the Brazilian Justice by refusing to block X accounts: he now faces several daily fines

Elon Musk has found himself involved in a new controversy. The businessman has been included in recent investigations into spread of fake news and alleged obstruction of justice in Brazil. The aforementioned processes arose after the owner of X (formerly Twitter) refused to comply with the blocking of several accounts on the platform after considering the measure “unconstitutional.”

The controversy began at a public level a few days ago. On April 6, X's Global Government Affairs account announced that They had been forced to “block certain popular accounts in Brazil” in response to court requests. In addition, they indicated in the message that they were prohibited from mentioning which magistrate had promoted the blockade and that they were exposed to daily fines if they did not comply.

Musk enters the scene and restores the accounts

The same day, 52 minutes later to be exact, Musk entered the scene. The also CEO of Tesla said had ordered to lift the restrictions, disobeying Brazilian Justice. However, Musk's reaction did not stop there. The businessman accused Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes for acting against the constitution and freedom of expression in Brazil.

Musk continued along those lines, adding that the requests from the Justice of the South American country were the “most draconian” on the planet. In addition, started to recommend to X users to download a VPN application (virtual private network) to be able to continue using the platform in case it was blocked in Brazil and even requested the resignation or dismissal of the judge.

The tension between the Superior Court of Justice of Brazil and Elon Musk continued to escalate as the days went by. On April 9 he said that de Moraes is the “dictator of Brazil” and asked to take the employees of the social network of the country led by Lula da Silva “to a safe place” or that they are not in a position of responsibility after, according to him, they were told that they would end up being arrested.

The Brazilian Justice did not take long to respond to the magnate. According to O Globo, a fine of 100,000 reais per day (18,390 euros) was set for each of the profiles that remained available after the court order. The judge noted in this sense that Musk had implemented a disinformation campaign about the actions of the Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) obstructing justice.

The magistrate did not mince words, adding that X used illegal mechanisms and that Musk presented “indications of malice.” It should be noted that this is not the first time that de Moraes orders a measure that he contemplates blocking profiles. Judge blocked the accounts of Brazilian youtuber Monark (Bruno Monteiro Aiub) in January of last year.

Monark, who in the past had defended the existence of a Nazi party in Brazilsaid that he felt empathy with the events that occurred on January 8, 2023. That day, let us remember, thousands of people identified with former president Jair Bolsonaro invaded and vandalized the headquarters of the National Congress, the Planalto Palace and the Supreme Court, which resulted in hundreds of people being detained.

At the time of writing this article, it is unknown which accounts Moraes has ordered closed. There is also no information about the reasons. However, from the BBC they point out that they could be linked to extreme right movements that published Content related to the January 8 riots from last year, although, as we say, there is no official information about it.

The big question at this time is whether the Brazilian Justice can order a temporary block of X. A series of legal experts they told Brazil Previous cases show that blocking the platform is possible, although most agree that it is a last resort that should only occur when all other less restrictive measures have been exhausted.

Blocking a communication platform in a certain region is technically possible, but it is also a delicate issue that puts freedom of expression at stake. In March 2022, de Moraes ordered to suspend the Telegram messaging service following the Dubai-based company's refusal to block accounts used by Bolsonaro supporters to spread false information, according to the ruling.

After Telegram complied with the order, the judge annulled the suspension of the platform. In Spain, for example, the judge of the National Court Santiago Pedraz ordered the blocking of Telegram last March after not receiving a response from the company in a case related to copyright. The magistrate, however, rejected the measure described by himself as “excessive and not proportional.”

Images | BoliviaIntelligent | Steve Jurvetson

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