It's a showdown between the world's richest man and a Brazilian Supreme Court justice.
Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk listens to a question as he speaks at the Satellite Conference and Exhibition in Washington on March 9, 2020.The justice, Alexandre de Moraes, has threatened to suspend social media giant X nationwide if its billionaire owner Elon Musk doesn't swiftly comply with one of his orders. Musk has responded with insults, including calling de Moraes a “tyrant” and “a dictator.
X’s refusal to appoint a legal representative would be particularly problematic ahead of Brazil’s October municipal elections, with a churn of fake news expected, said Luca Belli, coordinator of the Technology and Society Center at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university in Rio de Janeiro. Takedown orders are common during campaigns, and not having someone to receive legal notices would make timely compliance impossible.
Affonso Souza added that an individual judge's ruling to shut down a platform with so many users would likely be assessed at a later date by the Supreme Court's full bench.De Moraes would first notify the nation’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, who would then instruct operators — including Musk's own Starlink internet service provider — to suspend users’ access to X.
China banned X when it was still called Twitter back in 2009, along with Facebook. In Russia, authorities expanded their crackdown on dissent and free media after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. They have blocked multiple independent Russian-language media outlets critical of the Kremlin, and cut access to Twitter, which later became X, as well as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.
Brazil is also a potentially huge growth market for Musk's satellite company, Starlink, given its vast territory and spotty internet service in far-flung areas. Musk replied to people sharing the earlier reports of the freeze, adding his own insults directed at de Moraes.De Moraes’ defenders have said his actions have been lawful, supported by most of the court’s full bench and have served to protect democracy at a time in which it is imperiled.
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