Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), will be investigated in Brazil for possible crimes of obstruction of Justice and incitement to crime. This was decided on Sunday by the judge of the Federal Supreme Court Alexandre de Moraes, the judge who in recent years led the battle against disinformation on the internet and became the number one enemy of Bolsonarism.
The scuffle between the two began when Musk, out of the blue, sent him a comment asking “why he is demanding so much censorship in Brazil.” This was followed by others, in which he threatened to restore the profiles of several extreme right leaders blocked by Justice in recent years for attacking institutions and the democratic system. Musk stated that he would do it even if it put his business at risk and he would have to close X in Brazil. “That judge has blatantly and repeatedly betrayed the Brazilian people and their Constitution. “He should resign or suffer
impeachment
,” he said.
The joy was greatest among the Bolsonaro ranks. Many leading politicians began to post in English requests for international help and quick summaries of the alleged persecution to which they are subjected in Brazil to take advantage of the fact that Musk had focused on the country. Even Bolsonaro posted a video in which he appears next to the billionaire, in 2022, with the legend: “Musk is the myth of our freedom.”
De Moraes' response to the statements of the CEO of X came quickly. He ordered an investigation into the businessman's conduct and included him in the already open case on the so-called "digital militias", the groups organized by Bolsonaro's entourage to spread false news, hate speech, attack opponents and judges and put in doubts the reliability of the electoral system. In addition, the judge ordered that Among those banned by the Brazilian justice system are, for example, the businessman Luciano Hang, the former deputy Daniel Silveira (sentenced to almost nine years in prison for encouraging anti-democratic acts) or the blogger Allan dos Santos, a fugitive in the United States. At the moment none of those profiles have been restored.
In his decision, the Brazilian Supreme Court judge harshly charged Musk and his company: “The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian Justice, the incitement to crime, the public threat of disobedience of court orders and the future lack of cooperation of the platform are a lack of respect for the sovereignty of Brazil,” he expressed. In another fragment, in capital letters, he wrote: “Social media is not a lawless land! “Social media is no man’s land!”
Musk's statements provoked strong indignation in the Government and the progressive spectrum in general. The Minister of State Law, Jorge Messias, for example, said that Brazil has to urgently approve a regulation of social networks to prevent “billionaires residing abroad” from attacking Brazilian democracy. Brazil has been trying for some time, without success, to put a stop to anything goes that reigns on the internet, especially due to the profound impact that fake news and misinformation have had on political life in recent years.
Just a year ago, Brazilian congressmen were about to vote on the so-called fake news
bill
, which tried to bring some order to the internet. It was proposed, for example, to hold the platforms responsible in the case of massive dissemination of fake news, through robots, and they were given a period of 24 hours to eliminate content identified as illegal by Justice. The 'big tech' campaigned strongly against the law, which was never voted on. After Musk's statements, pressure is growing for the law to return to the debates of congressmen.
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