Alexandre de Moraes, the famous judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil, threatened on Wednesday, August 28, to suspend the social network X in the country within twenty-four hours. In a court order, the judge of the Federal Supreme Court (TSF) orders its owner, Elon Musk, to report “within twenty-four hours the name and status of the new legal representative of X” in Brazil, under penalty of “immediate suspension of social media activities”.
This decision follows Elon Musk’s announcement on August 17 that Twitter would close its offices in Brazil, leaving the service available to Brazilian users. Musk then accused Judge Alexandre de Moraes of threatening to arrest his legal representative in Brazil, which the social network considers a form of “censorship” intended to block certain content.
In the name of the fight against disinformation, Alexandre de Moraes has in recent years ordered the blocking of the accounts of influential figures from Brazilian ultra-conservative movements. Especially since the attempts by supporters of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), an admirer of Elon Musk, to discredit the electronic voting system implemented during the elections won by Lula in 2022.
Investigation opened against the head of X in the country
On Wednesday, in response to the TSF decision, Elon Musk posted a message on “this “judge” has[vait] repeatedly violated laws that[vait] jury to defend ».
In April, de Moraes ordered an investigation into the head of the social network formerly called Twitter, accusing him of reactivating banned accounts. The social network admitted that users of several blocked accounts had managed to circumvent the restrictions. The accounts in question belong to conservative figures, such as Senator Marcos do Val, a former ally of Bolsonaro, according to federal police.
“If we had accepted secret censorship [illégale] Alexandre de Moraes and the requests for transfer of private information, we could not have explained our actions without feeling ashamed”Musk then said, accusing the judge of suppressing freedom of expression.
Elon Musk is also the subject of a judicial investigation in Brazil over the matter of “digital militias”suspected of having used public money to orchestrate disinformation campaigns in favor of former President Jair Bolsonaro and his associates.
