Oliver Johnson
A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on a crusade included Elon Musk as the target of an ongoing investigation into the spread of fake news and opened a separate investigation on Sunday night against the executive for alleged obstruction.
In his ruling, Justice Alexandre de Moraes noted that Musk began on Saturday waging a public “disinformation campaign” about the high court’s actions, and that Musk continued the following day – notably with comments that his social media company X would fail to comply with court orders to block certain accounts.
“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, the incitement to crime, the public threat of disobedience to court orders and the platform’s future lack of cooperation are facts that disrespect Brazil’s sovereignty,” wrote de Moraes.
Musk will be investigated for alleged intentional crime instrumentation of as part of an investigation into a network of people known as digital militias who allegedly spread false and defamatory news and threats against ministers of the Federal Supreme Court, according to the text of the decision. The new investigation will determine whether Musk was involved in obstruction, criminal organization and incitement.
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Musk did not comment to X on the latest development until late Sunday.
Brazil’s political right has long characterized De Moraes as someone who went beyond his limits to suppress freedom of expression and engage in political persecution. In the investigation into digital militias, parliamentarians from former president Jair Bolsonaro’s circle were arrested and the homes of his supporters were invaded. Bolsonaro himself became the target of the investigation in 2021.
De Moraes’ defenders have said that his decisions, while extraordinary, are legally sound and necessary to eliminate fake news from social media, as well as extinguish threats to Brazilian democracy – famously highlighted by the January 8, 2023 uprising in Brazil’s capital that It resembled the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol.
On Saturday, Musk – a self-declared free speech absolutist – wrote on X that the platform would lift all restrictions on blocked accounts and predicted that the change would likely decrease revenue in Brazil and force the company to close its local office.
“But principles are more important than profit,” he wrote.
He later instructed users in Brazil to download a VPN to maintain access if X was shut down and wrote that X would publish all of Moraes’ demands, claiming they violated Brazilian law.
“These are the most draconian demands of any country on Earth!” he later wrote.
Musk had not published Moraes’ demands by late Sunday and prominent locked accounts remained so, indicating that X had not yet acted on Musk’s previous promises.
Moraes’ decision warned against this, saying that each blocked account that X eventually reactivates will incur a fine of 100,000 reais ($20,000) per day, and that those responsible will be held legally responsible for disobeying a court order.
Brazil’s attorney general wrote on Saturday night that it was urgent for Brazil to regulate social media platforms. “We cannot live in a society in which billionaires domiciled abroad have control of social media and put themselves in a position to violate the rule of law, failing to comply with court orders and threatening our authorities. Messiah wrote in X.
Brazil’s constitution was drafted after the 1964-1985 military dictatorship and contains a long list of ambitious goals and prohibitions against specific crimes such as racism and, more recently, homophobia. But freedom of expression is not absolute.
