Elon Musk is facing off against a Brazilian judge Musk claims is on a vendetta against free speech.
The conflict began Saturday when X said it was "forced by court decisions" to block certain accounts in Brazil and also banned from revealing details of the blocking order, according to Reuters.
The company said it did not know why the orders were issued, and noted that it was threatened with fines if it did not do as it was told.
But in a series of posts on X, Musk said he planned to defy Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
“This aggressive censorship appears to violate the law & will of the people of Brazil,” Musk posted on X.
“We are lifting all restrictions. This judge has applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to 𝕏 in Brazil. As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit,” Musk later posted on X.
Balls. Thanks,@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/SA0t6MEMQ5
— Nikolas Ferreira (@nikolas_dm) April 6, 2024
Musk then said the world will know what the judge wanted hidden.
"Coming shortly, 𝕏 will publish everything demanded by @Alexandre and how those requests violate Brazilian law. This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached. Shame @Alexandre, shame," Musk posted on X.
Coming shortly, 𝕏 will publish everything demanded by @Alexandre and how those requests violate Brazilian law.
This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached.
Shame @Alexandre, shame.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 7, 2024
Reuters noted that last year, Moraes sought investigations of Telegram and Google, who were opposing an internet regulation law that made companies responsible for ferreting out whatever might be illegal.
Author and journalist Michael Schellenberger, who has been claiming Brazil is trying to muzzle free speech, posted his allegations on X.
"Brazil is engaged in a sweeping crackdown on free speech led by a Supreme Court justice named Alexandre de Moraes,” Schellenberger posted.
"De Moraes has thrown people in jail without trial for things they posted on social media. He has demanded the removal of users from social media platforms. And he has required the censorship of specific posts, without giving users any right of appeal or even the right to see the evidence presented against them," he wrote.
TWITTER FILES - BRAZIL
Brazil is engaged in a sweeping crackdown on free speech led by a Supreme Court justice named Alexandre de Moraes.
De Moraes has thrown people in jail without trial for things they posted on social media. He has demanded the removal of users from social…
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) April 3, 2024
"Now, Twitter Files, released here for the first time, reveal that de Moraes and the Superior Electoral Court he controls engaged in a clear attempt to undermine democracy in Brazil," he posted.
"They: -- illegally demanded that Twitter reveal personal details about Twitter users who used hashtags he did not like; -- demanded access to Twitter’s internal data, in violation of Twitter policy; -- sought to censor, unilaterally, Twitter posts by sitting members of Brazil’s Congress; -- sought to weaponize Twitter’s content moderation policies against supporters of then-president @jairbolsonaro," he wrote.
"The Files show: the origins of the Brazilian judiciary’s demand for sweeping censorship powers; the court’s use of censorship for anti-democratic election interference; and the birth of the Censorship Industrial Complex in Brazil," he wrote.
