Brazilian justice targets Musk, X ‘disinformation’
Obstruction inquiry to focus on CEO’s defiance of order
RIO DE JANEIRO — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has included Elon Musk as a target in an ongoing investigation over the dissemination of fake news and has opened a separate investigation into the U.S. business executive for alleged obstruction.
In his decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes noted that Musk on Saturday began waging a public “disinformation campaign” regarding the top court’s actions and that Musk continued the following day — most notably with comments that his social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, would cease to comply with the court’s orders to block certain accounts.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who took over Twitter in late 2022, accused de Moraes of suppressing free speech and violating Brazil’s constitution and noted on X that users could seek to bypass any shutdown of the social media platform by using VPNs, or virtual private networks.
Musk will be investigated for alleged intentional criminal instrumentalization of X as part of an investigation into a network of people known as digital militias who allegedly spread defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices, according to the text of the decision. The new investigation will look into whether Musk engaged in obstruction, criminal organization and incitement.
“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime, the public threat of disobedience of court orders and future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespect the sovereignty of Brazil,” de Moraes wrote Sunday.
X’s media office did not reply to a request for comment from The Associated Press, and Musk hadn’t publicly commented as of Monday morning, apart from brief posts on X.
De Moraes’ defenders have said his decisions, although extraordinary, are legally sound and necessary to purge social media of fake news as well as extinguish threats to Brazilian democracy.
“Judicial decisions can be subject to appeal, but never to deliberate non-compliance,” Luís Roberto Barroso, the Supreme Court’s chief justice, said in a statement Monday.
On Saturday, Musk — a self-declared free speech absolutist — said on X that the platform would lift all restrictions on blocked accounts and predicted that the move was likely to dry up revenue in Brazil and force the company to shutter its local office.
“But principles matter more than profit,” he wrote.
Brazil is an important market for social media companies. About 40 million Brazilians, or about 18% of the population, access X at least once per month, according to the market research group Emarketer.
Musk later instructed users in Brazil to download a VPN to retain access if X was shut down and wrote that X would publish all of de Moraes’ demands, claiming they violate Brazilian law.
“These are the most draconian demands of any country on Earth!” he later wrote.
Before Musk pledged to defy the judge’s order, X’s global government affairs team said the company has been “forced” by the court to block some accounts in Brazil. “We are threatened with daily fines if we fail to comply,” the statement added. It wasn’t immediately known which accounts were affected and why, though previous takedown orders have targeted accounts allegedly carrying fake news and hate speech.
Musk also promised to publish details of how the order violates Brazilian law. “This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached,” Musk wrote.
Brazil’s constitution was drafted after the 1964-1985 military dictatorship and contains a long list of aspirational goals and prohibitions against specific crimes such as racism and, more recently, homophobia. But freedom of speech is not absolute.
Musk had not published de Moraes’ demands as of Monday morning and prominent blocked accounts remained so, indicating that X had yet to act based on Musk’s previous pledges.
Moraes’ decision warned against doing so, saying each blocked account that X eventually reactivates will entail a fine of $20,000 per day and that those responsible will be held legally to account for disobeying a court order.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — who bestowed Musk with a prestigious medal when he visited Brazil in 2022 — was among those encouraging Musk to follow through with his promises to publish documents, saying they would reveal how the top electoral court was pressured to interfere in the 2022 election that he lost. Bolsonaro has often made such claims, without any evidence.
“Our freedom today is largely in his hands,” Bolsonaro said about Musk in a live broadcast on social media Sunday night. “The action he’s taking, what he’s been saying and he hasn’t been intimidated and has said that he’s going to put forward this idea of fighting for freedom for our country. That’s good.”
Musk had “more courage to defend democracy” than the Brazilian Senate, wrote Brazilian congressman Carlos Jordy, an opposition leader. Nikolas Ferreira, another Bolsonaro ally who has previously had his account barred, called Musk “unstoppable.”
The lower house lawmaker who is in charge of handling a bill that aims to establish rules for social media platforms said on X that the episode underscored the urgency of bringing the proposal to a vote. It was approved by the Senate in 2020. Brazil’s attorney general on Saturday night had already voiced his support for regulation.
“We cannot live in a society in which billionaires domiciled abroad have control of social networks and put themselves in a position to violate the rule of law, failing to comply with court orders and threatening our authorities. Social peace is non-negotiable,” Jorge Messias wrote on X.
And President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s minister of institutional relations, Alexandre Padilha, wrote Monday on X that the administration will support the Supreme Court and its probes and will work with Congress and civil society to build a regulatory framework.