Brazil has blocked Elon Musk’s X social media platform after the SpaceX and Tesla CEO refused to comply with the nation’s demands to blacklist certain accounts. Musk claimed on his platform that the country also froze the assets of Starlink, his satellite internet company.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the country’s telecom agency to block access to X across Brazil, adding that anyone caught trying to access the social media platform could be fined nearly $9,000 per day, according to a report by the New York Times.
The move reportedly came after Musk closed his X office in Brazil after Moraes threatened to make arrests over ignoring his demands to remove X accounts that he said broke Brazilian laws.
“Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” Musk said in a Friday X post.
Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes https://t.co/eqbowALCeu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2024
Additionally, Moraes reportedly froze SpaceX’s Starlink satellite-internet service in Brazil in an attempt to collect $3 million in fines he has levied against X. Starlink said it plans to fight the ruling and would make its service free in Brazil if necessary.
They froze Starlink’s bank accounts too, despite Starlink being a separate company with different shareholders and having broken no laws and given no warning.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 1, 2024
Meanwhile, the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice also ordered Apple and Google to stop people from downloading X, as well as VPN apps, which people use to bypass such draconian measures.
Musk and Moraes have been battling it out for months now. The SpaceX CEO said Moraes is illegally censoring conservative voices, while the Brazilian Justice claims Musk is illegally obstructing his work to clean up the internet in Brazil.
Moraes also called Musk an “outlaw” in his court order, and accused the X owner of trying to “allow the massive spread of disinformation, hate speech and attacks on the democratic rule of law, violating the free choice of the electorate, by keeping voters away from real and accurate information.”
Moraes, who is considered a “hero” to the country’s political left, emerged as one of Brazil’s most polarizing figures after the nation’s Supreme Court tasked him with cracking down on “threats to democracy” amid left-wing fears of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s rise, the New York Times reported.
The Brazilian Supreme Court reportedly empowered Moraes to “unilaterally order the takedown of accounts he deemed threats” ahead of the country’s 2022 election, the outlet noted.
Since then, the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice has reportedly “wielded” his powers freely, which oftentimes resulted in sealed orders that do not explain why a certain account has been deemed for termination on X.
So far, Moraes has reportedly ordered Musk’s social media platform to ban at least 140 accounts, including some of Brazil’s most popular conservative figures and government officials, as well as accounts belonging to Brazilians questioning Bolsonaro’s 2022 election loss.
Moraes has even led multiple criminal investigations into Bolsonaro, and has tried to make him ineligible to run in Brazil’s next presidential election.
“Alexandre de Moraes is an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge,” Musk declared in an April X post.
Alexandre de Moraes is an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge. https://t.co/ZIV8KbDCmk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2024
Notably, owners of platforms allowing for free speech have been under attack in recent weeks.
Last weekend, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris after French authorities accused him of “various violations” involving a “lack of moderation” on his messaging app.
On Thursday, Musk commented that it’s “probably wise” for him “to limit” his travels to areas where free speech is “constitutionally protected.”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.