Brazil Supreme Court justice opens inquiry into Elon Musk, escalating dispute over misinformation

Brazil
Supreme
Court
Justice Alexandre
de
Moraes
initiated
an
investigation
of
tech
magnate
Elon
Musk
on
Sunday,
the
billionaire
owner
and
CTO
of
social
network
X
(formerly
Twitter).
The
probe
concerns
possible
obstruction
of
justice
by

Musk
who
said,
over
the
weekend,
he
would
defy
the
court’s
orders
to
restrict
or
suspend
some
popular
accounts
on
its
platform.

Moraes
also
ordered
the
inclusion
of
Musk
in
a
broader
inquiry
into
so-called “digital
militias,”
a
term
applied
to
people
accused
of
spreading
misinformation
online
to
attack
democratic
institutions
in
Brazil.

The
orders
follow
threats
of
open
defiance
posted
by
Musk
to
his
account
on
X,
where
he
now
has
180.2
million
listed
followers.

A
defiant
Musk
wrote
on
Saturday
in
response
to
earlier
court
orders: “We
are
lifting
all
restrictions.
This
judge
has
applied
massive
fines,
threatened
to
arrest
our
employees
and
cut
off
access
to
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.”

By
Sunday,
Musk
was
further
provoking
the
Brazilian
Supreme
Court
calling
for
the
resignation
or
impeachment
of
the
justice
who
decided
on
the
orders,
Moraes.
Musk
also
made
unsupported
claims
that
the
judge
had
broken
the
law
in
Brazil.

On
Sunday,
the
tech
billionaire
also
threatened
to
publish
information
from
inside
X
that
would
paint
Moraes
as
a
traitor
to
his
own
country.

He
wrote, “Coming
shortly,
will
publish
everything
demanded
by
[Alexandre
de
Moraes]
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
de
Moraes],
shame.”

Moraes
has
long
supported
regulations
to
rein
in
harmful
content
and

misinformation
online
in
Brazil.
He
has
faced
pushback
from
a
range
of
entities
including
tech
companies,
far-right
officials
in
the
country,
and
former
President
Bolsonaro.

With
a
population
of
more
than

215
million
in
2023,
Brazil
is
the
second
most
populous
country
in
the
Western
Hemisphere
after
the
United
States.
Musk’s
vocal
opposition
to
Moraes
comes
during
a
municipal
election
year
in
the
country,
with
voters
scheduled
to
go
to
the
polls
in
October.

Like
Americans,
Brazilian
voters
are
deeply
divided
over
politics.
The
country
also
experienced
destabilizing
political
violence
similar
to
Jan.
6,
2021
during
its
most
recent
transfer
of
power.

On
Jan.
8.
2023,
supporters
of
Brazil’s
ousted,
far-right
former
President
Jair
Bolsonaro
decried
a “stolen”
election,
invaded
and
vandalized
government
buildings,
and
called
for
military
intervention
to
remove
the
elected
President
Luiz
Inácio
Lula
da
Silva
from
office.

Currently,
Bolsonaro
is
under
investigation,
suspected
of
orchestrating
a
coup,
of
fabricating
records
and
other
offenses
in
his
home
country.

Musk
—
who
is
CTO
and
owner
of
X,
as
well
as
CEO
of
automaker
Tesla
and
rocket
maker
SpaceX–
visited
Bolsonaro
in
May
2022
during
an
election
year
reportedly
to
discuss
the
use
of
his
space
company’s
satellite
internet
services

at
rural
schools
in
the
Amazon.

SpaceX
first
obtained
permission
to
switch
on
its
satellite
internet
service,
named
Starlink,
in
Brazil
during
Bolsonaro’s
presidency,
and
the
service
is
now
used
pervasively
throughout
the
country.

During
their
May
2022
meeting,
Bolsonaro
weighed
in
on
the
Tesla
exec’s
plans
to
take
over
Twitter
as
a “breath
of
hope.”

X
and
other
social
networks
are
facing
increasing
regulatory
pressure
the
world
over,
including
in
Australia,
Brazil,
the
European
Union,
India
and
Turkey.

For
each
account
that
X
reinstates
against
Brazil’s
Supreme
Court
orders,
the
court
will
fine
Musk
and
company
100,000
reais
(almost
$20,000)
each
per
day,
according
to
filings.
Those
involved
will
also
be
held
accountable
in
Brazil
for
defying
the
court’s
orders.

Moraes
wrote
in
his
decision
that “Social
networks
are
not
a
lawless
land!”
And
he
said
that
Musk’s
statements
show
that
X
protects
those
who
promote
criminal
activities
against
the
democracy
of
Brazil.

“The
conduct
of “X’
constitutes,
in
theory,
not
only
abuse
of
economic
power,
by
trying
to
ILLEGALLY
impact
public
opinion,
but
also
flagrant
induction
and
instigation
to
maintain
various
criminal
conducts
practiced
by
the
digital
militias
investigated”
the
judge
wrote,
according
to

Correio
Brazilense.

Musk-led
X
has
been
fined
for

noncompliance
with
Australia’s
e-Safety
regulations.
X
is
also
the
subject
of
a
probe
by
the
European
Union
under
their
relatively
new
Digital
Services
Act,
a
set
of
laws
meant
to
hold
tech
companies
accountable
for
incitement
of
terrorism,
hate
speech,
child
exploitation
and
other
harmful
content
on
their
platforms.

Free
speech
advocates
fear
that
such
regulations
—
created
in
the
name
of
curbing
online
harms,
or
protecting
users’
data
and
privacy–
can
be
too
easily
exploited
by
government
officials,
and
used
to
target
or
silence
perceived
enemies,
like
activists,
academics
and
dissidents.

While
Musk
has
characterized
himself
as
a
free
speech
absolutist,
his
track
record
is
deeply
inconsistent.

When
he
took
over
Twitter,
Musk
cut
back
on
content
moderation,
trust
and
safety
employees,
relaxed
the
company’s
policies,
and
reinstated
accounts
that
were
banned
under
prior
management.

For
example,
Musk
reinstated
the
account
of
former
President
Donald
Trump
after
prior
management
placed
a
lifetime
ban
on
it
in
January
2021.
(The
ban
came
in
the
wake
of
the
Jan.
6,
2021,
insurrection
at
the
U.S.
Capitol
where
Trump
supporters
rioted
and
disrupted
lawmakers
who
were
formally
counting
Electoral
College
votes.)

Meanwhile,
Musk-led
Tesla
has
required
employees
and
customers
to
sign
stringent
non-disclosure,
and
mandatory
arbitration
agreements
for
years
which
limit
their
free
speech
by
design.
At
SpaceX,
employees
said
they
were
fired
in
retaliation
for
writing
an

open
letter
critical
of
Musk
in
2022.

And
in
February,
X
removed
accounts
and
posts
at
the
behest
of
India’s
government
that
were
linked
to
ongoing
farmers’
protests
there.

X
did
not
immediately
respond
to
CNBC’s
request
for
comment
on
Sunday.

This
is
a
developing
story,
please
check
back
for
updates.