Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Court Of Brazil has ordered the investigation of the former owner of Twitter , Billionaire Elon Musk , Moraes also demanded an investigation into the businessman’s conduct and businesses in Brazil .
Musk has been included among the investigated individuals in the existing inquiry into digital militias in Brazil . The judge also ordered the X network not to disobey orders from the Brazilian judiciary. Alexandre Moraes imposed a fine of R$ 100,000 for each profile reactivated irregularly.
Moraes stated that he saw evidence of obstruction of justice and incitement to crime in Musk’s recent actions.” social networks are not lawless ! Social networks are not anyone’s land !” The judge wrote in his decision
Musk attacked Moraes’ decisions in the investigations led by the minister on Saturday 6th of April 2024 . The businessman also threatened to reactivate the profiles of X users blocked by the judiciary.
Moraes is the rapporteur for investigations such as:
- Digital militias: investigating orchestrated actions on social networks to spread false information and hate speech, with the aim of undermining institutions and democracy.
- January 8th: investigating an attempted coup in Brazil by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Throughout these investigations over the past few years, Moraes has ordered social networks to block the accounts of some individuals . According to the minister, they used the platforms to commit the irregular practices under investigation.
Musk decided to confront the minister. On Saturday, he posted the following provocation on top of a post by Moraes on X: “Why are you demanding so much censorship in Brazil?”.
Later on Saturday, Musk threatened that the platform would reactivate blocked accounts, in defiance of the judiciary, even if, according to Musk, this would result in the company’s closure in Brazil and harm profits.
On Sunday, the billionaire posted a picture of Moraes and called him the “Darth Vader” of Brazil, in reference to the villain from the Star Wars film franchise.
Following the businessman’s successive attacks, Moraes issued the decision late Sunday night. According to the minister, Musk committed irregular practices by using social networks to spread disinformation and destabilize institutions of the Democratic Rule of Law:
“In this case, therefore, the illegal use of mechanisms by ‘X’ is characterized; as well as the strong indications of the CEO of the social network ‘X’, Elon Musk, in the previously pointed out and investigated criminal instrumentalization in various inquiries,” wrote Moraes.
In another part of the decision, Moraes writes in capital letters:
“SOCIAL NETWORKS ARE NOT LAWLESS! SOCIAL NETWORKS ARE NOT ANYONE’S LAND!”
He also said that platforms must follow the Constitution, under penalty of being held accountable for their actions.
According to Moraes, X and Musk challenge Brazil’s sovereignty.
“The blatant obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement to crime, public threats of disobedience to judicial orders, and future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespect Brazil’s sovereignty and reinforce the connection of the criminal instrumentalization of the activities of the former Twitter, now X,” declared the minister.
Musk’s statements elicited responses from politicians and authorities. .The Attorney General of the Union (AGU), Jorge Messias, said that Brazil needs to approve regulation of social networks to prevent “billionaires domiciled abroad” from attacking the Democratic Rule of Law.
“It is urgent to regulate social networks. We cannot live in a society where billionaires domiciled abroad have control of social networks and put themselves in a position to violate the Rule of Law, disobeying court orders and threatening our authorities. Social peace is non-negotiable,” wrote Messias.
João Brant, Secretary of Digital Policies at the Presidential Communication Secretariat, also advocated for the regulation of networks. He also stated that Musk, by writing attacks on Moraes, disregards Brazilian justice.
“Elon Musk’s attitude evidences his disregard for Brazilian justice. He responds politically to the buzz of recent days by rehashing old decisions and takes advantage to engage in agitation and extreme right-wing propaganda. There may be different opinions about the decisions of the STF and the TSE, but that’s not what this is about. Musk decided to defend coup plotters and escalate the issue for political (possibly also commercial) reasons,” said Brant.
The President of the Court of Audit of the Union, Bruno Dantas, stated that “freedom of expression is a fundamental right that has never, anywhere in the world, meant licentiousness to violate the law or attack institutions of a country.”
Minister Paulo Pimenta, from the Presidential Social Communication Secretariat, commented on Moraes’ decision. He said that Musk will not intimidate Brazil.
“We will not be intimidated. Our country is sovereign and no one will impose their authoritarian will and make their ‘business model’ above the Federal Constitution,” he wrote.
