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Elon Musk and Brazil’s Supreme Court Battle reached its climax this Friday with social network shutdownafter billionaire ignored court orders during investigation fake news. Here are five keys
Elon Musk and Brazil’s Supreme Court Battle reached its climax this Friday with social network shutdownafter billionaire ignored court orders during investigation fake news.
Here are five keys to the standoff between the owner of Tesla and SpaceX and Brazil’s highest court:
The case is part of an investigation the Supreme Court has been conducting since July 2021 into the existence of digital militias that seek to undermine democratic institutions through the dissemination of Fake news on social networks.
Police suspect it is a “criminal organisation” with “production, publication and financing” cores, involving political leaders, with the ultimate goal of “attack democracy and the rule of law.”
In this context, the Supreme Court ordered X (formerly Twitter) to remove several profiles linked to the far-right forces led by former President Jair. Bolsonaroinvestigated in other cases for plotting a coup against current President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
However, Musk refused and was placed under investigation for obstruction of justice, criminal organization, and solicitation of a crime.
He is the investigating judge. He was a prosecutor, Minister of Justice in the Liberal government of Michel Temer (2016-2018), and since 2017 has been one of the eleven justices of the Supreme Court of Brazil.
De Moraes is intolerant of hate speech and anti-democratic statements on the Internetinsisted that “freedom of expression should not be confused with impunity for aggression.”
He is also responsible for the investigation. Bolsonarista invasion to the headquarters of the three powers, January 8, 2023, and the plot conspirator to prevent Lula from taking officewhich happened seven days earlier.
These actions made him the main enemy of Bolsonarism, and several parliamentarians associated with the former head of state tried to remove him.
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The conflict began when X refused to remove profiles allegedly linked to the coup, but other disagreements escalated the situation.
On August 17, X closed its office in Brazil due to the risk that its employees would be jailed for failing to comply with court orders.
The next day, De Moraes Seizes Bank Accounts of Starlink, Another Musk Company which offers satellite Internet services, to ensure payment of fines imposed on X.
On August 28, a magistrate gave Musk 24 hours to appoint a legal representative for X in Brazil, or risk having the social network suspended, which is what eventually happened.
The Supreme Court notified Musk of the decision via X, an unprecedented move in Brazil.
In response, Musk warned that he would not comply with the order and launched a series of posts on the social network accusing De Moraes of being “a criminal of the worst kind” and “the dictator of Brazil” and imposing “censorship” for no apparent reason.
De Moraes’ actions have caused a rift in the legal world, with some arguing for a firm response to Musk’s challenge, while others question how the process was handled.
Alexandre Coelho, partner at Godke Advogados and digital law specialist, noted: EFE that while the requirement to comply with the law is legitimate, “tight sentences and threats of prison” raise doubts about due process.
Acácio Miranda, a doctor of constitutional law at the Brazilian Institute of Teaching, Development and Research, recalled that The law requires social networks to have a representative in Brazil to comply with court decisions and rejected the “prior censorship” argument that authorities should intervene when someone “indiscriminately” attacks others.
With the X suspension it will lose about 20 million active users in Brazilwhich ranked sixth among the countries most active in using social media in January last year, after Indonesia, the UK, India, Japan and the US, according to Statista.
To ensure compliance with the ruling, the Supreme Court notified the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel, the regulator) that it has one day to issue orders to internet service providers that block access for technical reasons that may not be immediate. (EFE)
Source: Aristegui Noticias
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