This Monday, the first chamber of the Brazilian Supreme Court confirmed by unanimous vote a precautionary measure that had suspended the operations of the social network X in Brazil, due to repeated violations by Elon Musk of several court orders issued by this court.
The decision was supported in a virtual session by the five judges of the court, stating that X will remain blocked until all court orders are complied with, applicable to any company operating within Brazil, in accordance with the ruling.
Alexandre de Moraes, who is the rapporteur of the case and has been the subject of insults and called a dictator by Musk on X, issued the first vote. This occurs after De Moraes ordered the suspension of numerous accounts on the social network for being involved in the widespread dissemination of false news and attacks against democracy and its institutions.
Despite these orders, Musk did not comply and proceeded to withdraw his lawyers in Brazil, alleging that they faced the risk of being imprisoned by De Moraes.
Violations “Intentional” in Favor of “Extremist Groups”
In his ruling, supported by the other four judges, De Moraes pointed out the “repeated, intentional, and voluntary non-compliance with court orders and payment of fines” by Musk’s company, totaling around four million dollars.
The magistrate argued that this behavior seeks “to create a total impunity environment and a ‘lawless zone’,” promoting “the activity of extremist groups and digital militias on social networks,” through the “massive dissemination of Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful, and antidemocratic discourses”.
Among the members of the first chamber of the Supreme Court, two have been ministers of Justice in different administrations: De Moraes, during the government of Michel Temer (2016-2018), and Flávio Dino with the current progressive president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which denies the alleged “ideology” of the decision by the far-right.
Starlink and Municipal Elections, More Conflicts on the Horizon
In addition to the precautionary measure against X, another judicial conflict has emerged with Starlink, equally owned by Musk, which has refused to comply with the suspension of the social network in Brazil.
To ensure the payment of fines to X, which has around 20 million users in the country, Starlink’s accounts, a satellite internet provider with approximately 215,000 active lines in Brazil, have been frozen by De Moraes.
However, the company declared on Sunday that it will not comply with the judicial order directed at X until its accounts are released.
The measures imposed on Musk’s companies were taken in the context of the campaign for the October municipal elections, exacerbating the polarization between the far-right led by former President Jair Bolsonaro, who maintains ties with Musk, and the progressive sector represented by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro criticized what he considers a “ideological persecution” against conservatives, while Lula has emphasized that any foreign company in Brazil must “respect” the country’s justice.
This Monday, the high court made the decision with the aim of preventing the municipal election campaign from being saturated with false news, a phenomenon already observed in the 2018 presidential elections, in which Lula defeated Bolsonaro, who sought re-election. This electoral process was marked by the judicial deactivation of hundreds of accounts on several platforms, mainly for disseminating attacks against democratic institutions, attributed in the majority to the far-right.
credits for the images of this post: Deultimominuto.net
