This is a further setback for Elon Musk, in his clash with Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes. On Monday, September 2, the Brazilian Supreme Court confirmed the suspension of the disinformation social network.
Owned by the American billionaire, who is also the head of Tesla and SpaceX, the X platform began to be blocked on Saturday, shortly after Alexandre de Moraes activated the suspension. The decision of this judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil, a figure in the fight against disinformation in his country, was finally confirmed by five Supreme Court justices, including Moraes, meeting in a virtual session.
“Elon Musk has demonstrated his total lack of respect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, the judiciary, positioning himself as a true supranational entity, immune to the laws of each country”Alexandre de Moraes said. Flavio Dino, former Minister of Justice of the current Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, estimated that “Freedom of expression does not protect against repeated violations of the legal system.”
“Elon Musk’s disregard for the law”
Before activating the “immediate, total and complete suspension” X, Alexandre de Moraes had given the social network twenty-four hours on Wednesday evening to appoint a legal representative in the country, under penalty of blocking. An ultimatum that Elon Musk’s teams decided to ignore. “Freedom of expression is the foundation of democracy, and in Brazil, an unelected “pseudo-judge” is destroying it for political reasons”the billionaire thundered.
In response, X’s owner is encouraging Brazilian users of its platform to circumvent the suspension by using Virtual Private Networks., VPN). In this regard, Musk even made Starlink services, offered by his company SpaceX, free in Brazil. As reported by New York TimesAccording to Brazilian regulatory authorities, this Internet service provider actually refuses to comply with the decision to block X.
A way for Elon Musk, who has been denouncing an attack on freedom of expression for several days, to once again challenge Brazilian justice. On Wednesday, the association Reporters Without Borders considered that “The blocking of X is regrettable, especially since the platform is widely used by the journalistic community” but that he is “justified by the platform’s constant refusal to respond to repeated requests from the authorities to comply with the law”.
Two hundred and fifty human rights groups and experts from the Global Coalition for Tech Justice have also called on regulators around the world to follow Brazil’s lead when it comes to “Take strong action against harmful acts and omissions by X (formerly Twitter) and other major tech giants”In a statement released on Monday, they believe that the refusal to comply with which the American billionaire opposed the Brazilian authorities “part of a familiar pattern of Elon Musk defying the law and evading responsibility”.
“We are deeply concerned by Elon Musk’s disregard for democratic laws and institutions; his appropriation, mismanagement and misuse of a leading global social media platform, part of our collective civic space online, is reckless and dangerous.these experts and human rights groups continue. It is clear that this is detrimental to peace and democracy in the world.
