Elon Musk’s Freedom of Speech Stance Invites Inquiry From Brazilian Court

• On Sunday, a Brazilian court opened an inquiry against Elon Musk for obstructing justice" after he decided to lift the bans on certain X accounts, against the court's judgment.
• Musk criticized the judge openly on X, called his decision unlawful, and asked him to resign.
• The judge and other Brazilian authorities retaliated, imposed fines on him, and threatened a permanent ban in Brazil if he did not follow the court orders.

Elon Musk, a free speech absolutist, has landed in serious legal trouble in Brazil. On Sunday (7th April, 2024), a Brazilian court decided to open an inquiry against Musk for obstructing justice after he said that he would reactivate some X accounts that were banned under the order of the court.

What's the fuss all about?The Brazilian judiciary ordered the ban of certain X accounts that are believed to be controlled by far-right activists who posted about the riot on January 8, 2023.

On the said day, supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro (who was defeated by Luis Inacio Lula da Silva) stormed into many federal buildings such as the country's congress, the presidential palace, and the supreme court.

After the incident, Justice Alexandre de Moraes began investigating digital militias' that were responsible for spreading hatred and fake news in support of Bolsonaro. As a result of these investigations, a handful of X accounts were asked to be banned.

The names of those accounts have not been revealed. We also don't know when the order was first issued. The first time Musk publicly talked about this was through a post on his X account this Saturday (6th April, 2024).

Read more about Elon Musk's recent announcements, namely Tesla's robotaxi launch and X blue ticks available for free again.

Musk's response & his tweetsElon Musk wasn't happy with the Brazilian court's decision. He feels that the people of Brazil should have the freedom of speech and get full transparency in matters of national importance.

So, on April 7, Musk posted a tweet on X saying Content restrictions in Brazil have been removed." He also said that the court orders to ban the aforementioned accounts were unconstitutional and against Brazilian laws. Musk didn't stop there, though, as he then tagged Justice Moraes and asked him to resign. See for yourself:

It's worth noting that Elon Musk is a staunch believer in freedom of speech. If you take a look at his X account, you will find several tweets, some even as old as 2022, talking about the importance of free speech.

He's too rigid in his morals, and while that might be a good thing in most scenarios, unfortunately for him, this time he's picked a battle with an equally strong opponent.

How did the court & Brazilian officers respond to Musk's outlash?The Brazilian court certainly did not like Musk openly announcing that he plans to disobey their order. That's what led to Moraes opening an inquiry against Musk.

In another statement released to the media, the judge also said that if Musk fails to ban the accounts, he will be fined 100,000 reais ($19,740) per day. Just so we're all on the same page, the fine probably means nothing to Elon Musk whose net worth at the time of writing stands at around $189 billion, making him one of the wealthiest tech billionaires of all time.

Furthermore, other officials from Brazil have also expressed their deep displeasure over Musk's actions. For example, Brazil's communications minister Paulo Pimenta posted saying social media platforms are not lawless lands.

We will not allow anyone, regardless of the money and power they have, to affront our homeland.Brazil's communications minister

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Solicitor General Jorge Messias also supported the court's decision. Messias said that Brazil can't allow billionaires from abroad with control over social media platforms to violate their country's laws and question their judiciary's judgement.

Bruna Santo, who is the global campaigns manager at nonprofit organization called Digital Action, said that if Musk decides to continue to disobey the court orders, X might get suspended in Brazil.

She also added that it's unwise for the CEO to provoke the Brazilian judiciary or there's a high chance that X can get permanently blocked in Brazil.

Elon Musk's Stance

Elon Musk has addressed this warning and said he isn't too worried about getting banned. He has also urged those in Brazil to install a Virtual Private Network (VPN), as it will allow them to continue using X even if it gets banned.

The best VPN services mask your IP address, hiding your real location and thereby allowing you to access content blocked in your region.

In a tweet, Elon Musk addressed the fines imposed by the court and said that although they are threatening to arrest X employees and he might have to shut down X's offices and lose all revenue in Brazil, he won't step back from the fight because principles matter more than money." Wow, Elon!

Lastly, Elon Musk has also announced that he would be taking legal action against the judge's orders whenever possible.

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