Rio de Janeiro: A crusading Brazilian Supreme Court justice has named Elon Musk as a target in an ongoing inquiry into the spread of fake news, and he has launched a second investigation into the US business tycoon for possible obstruction.
In his decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes noted that Musk began waging a public “disinformation campaign” regarding the top court’s actions on Saturday and that Musk continued the next day, most notably with comments that his social media company X would cease to comply with the court’s orders to block certain accounts.
Elon Musk Will Be Investigated Over Fake News And Obstruction In Brazil After A Supreme Court Order
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who took over Twitter in late 2022, accused de Moraes of repressing free expression and violating Brazil’s constitution and stated on X that users might try to avoid any suspension of the social media platform by utilizing VPNs, or virtual private networks.
According to the decision’s language, Musk will be investigated for alleged purposeful illegal instrumentalization of X as part of an inquiry into a network of digital militias accused of spreading defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices. The new probe will determine whether Musk engaged in obstruction, criminal organization, or incitement.
“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime, the public threat of disobedience of court orders and future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespect the sovereignty of Brazil,” de Moraes wrote in a letter on Sunday.
X’s press office did not respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment, and Musk had not publicly spoken as of Monday morning, save from brief posts on X.
Brazil’s political right has long accused de Moraes of overstepping his authority by restricting free expression and engaging in political persecution. In the digital militias probe, parliamentarians from former President Jair Bolsonaro’s circle have been imprisoned, and the residences of his followers have been raided. Bolsonaro himself became the focus of the probe in 2021.
In March 2022, the justice ordered the nationwide shutdown of messaging app Telegram because the platform had repeatedly ignored requests from Brazilian authorities, including a police request to block profiles and provide information related to blogger Allan dos Santos, a Bolsonaro ally accused of spreading falsehoods. Dos Santos’ account is among those blocked on X in Brazil. Less than 48 hours after announcing his ruling in 2022, Judge Moraes stated that Telegram had cooperated and allowed operations to restart.
De Moraes’ supporters have argued that his decisions, while extraordinary, are legally sound and necessary to rid social media of fake news and eliminate threats to Brazilian democracy, as highlighted by the Jan. 8, 2023, uprising in Brazil’s capital, which resembled the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection in the United States Capitol.
The Supreme Court’s chief justice, Luís Roberto Barroso, stated that while judicial decisions can be appealed, deliberate non-compliance is never acceptable.
On Saturday, Musk, a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, said on X that the platform would relax all limitations on barred accounts. He predicted that the move would dry up revenue in Brazil and cause the firm to close its local operation.
“But principles matter more than profit,” he stated in a letter.
Elon Musk Will Be Investigated Over Fake News And Obstruction In Brazil After A Supreme Court Order
Brazil is a major market for social media companies. According to the market research firm Emarketer, over 40 million Brazilians, or roughly 18% of the population, use X at least once monthly.
Musk also ordered Brazilian customers to use a VPN to maintain access if X was shut down, and he stated that X would disclose all of de Moraes’ demands, saying they violated Brazilian law.
In a follow-up letter, he added, “These are the most draconian demands of any country on Earth!”
Brazil’s constitution, drafted following the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, has a long list of aspirational aims as well as prohibitions on particular offenses such as racism and, more recently, homophobia. However, freedom of speech is not absolute.
Musk had yet to release de Moraes’ demands as of Monday morning, and prominent blocked accounts remained so, indicating that X had failed to act on Musk’s previous promises.
Moraes’ decision advised against doing so, stating that each blocked account X later reactivates will result in a fine of 100,000 reais ($20,000) per day, and individuals involved would be held criminally accountable for violating a court order.
“Incorporating Elon Musk into the digital militias inquiry is one thing. Another option is to block X. Moraes is nodding, indicating that he did not remain silent in the face of Elon Musk’s provocations,” said Carlos Affonso, director of the Rio de Janeiro-based think tank Institute for Technology and Society, speaking by phone from Washington. “It is a warning shot so that lines aren’t crossed.”
Affonso, a civil rights professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, was at Georgetown Law School on Monday for a symposium on Brazil’s business climate and regulations, and the ramifications of Moraes’ ruling for Musk and X were “the talk of the town.” Affonso is also concerned about what the building conflict may imply for Musk’s Starlink satellites, which give internet access to distant Brazilian locations such as the Amazon rainforest and Pantanal wetlands.
Elon Musk Will Be Investigated Over Fake News And Obstruction In Brazil After A Supreme Court Order
Bolsonaro, who awarded Musk a prestigious medal on his visit to Brazil in 2022, was among those pressing Musk to keep his pledge to publish records. He claimed they would reveal how the top electoral court was pressed to interfere in the 2022 election, which he lost. Bolsonaro has frequently made such allegations without providing evidence.
“Our freedom today is largely in his hands,” Bolsonaro said of Musk during a live social media broadcast Sunday night. “The action he’s taking, what he’s been saying, he hasn’t been intimidated, and he has stated that he will put forward this idea of fighting for freedom for our country. That is good.”
The lower house politician in charge of a bill to establish restrictions for social media sites stated on X that the experience highlighted the importance of putting the idea to a vote. The Senate approved it in 2020. On Saturday night, Brazil’s attorney general announced his support for regulation.
“We cannot live in a society where billionaires based abroad control social media and put themselves in a position to undermine the rule of law by failing to comply with court decisions and threatening our officials. “Social peace is not negotiable,” Jorge Messias wrote on X.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s minister of institutional relations, Alexandre Padilha, stated Monday on X that the administration will support the Supreme Court and its investigations and collaborate with Congress and civil society to develop a regulatory framework.
SOURCE – (AP)
