Brazil’s ban on X shows the world is “not obliged to put up with Elon Musk’s far-right politics,” the country’s president said.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told CNN Brasil that he hopes the crisis surrounding X in Brazil, which is one of the platform’s largest global markets, can teach the world that it doesn’t have to put up with Musk’s antics “just because he’s rich.”
Brazil’s Supreme Court initiated a nationwide shutdown of X on Friday after Musk refused to appoint a legal representative in the country and voted unanimously to uphold the ban on X on Monday.
Musk’s company had also refused to comply with a court order to close X profiles accused of spreading fake news before X was banned in Brazil.
But the ban angered supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who took to the streets on Saturday in protest.
Musk, who has previously aligned himself with Bolsonaro’s views, shared an invitation to the march on X, urging Brazilians to participate to “march for freedom, protest judicial excesses and defend freedom of expression.”
Brazil’s ban on X shows the world is “not forced to put up with Elon Musk’s (pictured) far-right politics,” the country’s president said
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (pictured) told CNN Brasil he hopes the crisis surrounding X in Brazil, which is one of the platform’s largest global markets, can teach the world that it doesn’t have to put up with Musk’s antics “just because he’s rich.”
Internet service providers in Brazil, home to 215 million people and one of X’s largest markets, completely blocked the platform on Saturday, and the country’s major news sites stopped publishing at the same time.
One of the Supreme Court justices behind the ban, Alexandre de Moraes, 55, and Musk have been embroiled in a long-running dispute over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation, and the new ban is a result of rising tensions.
On Monday, Musk shared another invitation to Saturday’s march, saying protesters would “flood” the streets of Sao Paulo to call for Moraes’ ouster.
Internet service providers in Brazil, home to 215 million people and one of X’s largest markets, completely blocked the platform on Saturday, and the country’s major news sites stopped publishing at the same time.
A furious Musk took to X following the ban, saying: “The tyrant Voldemort is crushing people’s right to free speech,” comparing De Moraes to the evil wizard from the Harry Potter series.
De Moraes said X will remain suspended until he complies with orders to close the profiles and appoint a legal representative, and also set a daily fine of £6,790 for individuals or companies using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access the site.
The Brazilian Bar Association said in a statement on Friday that it will ask the Supreme Court to review the fines that Moraes imposed on all citizens who use VPNs to access the platform.
“I’ve used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social media,” Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at Rio de Janeiro State University, said on the platform before it was shut down.
“It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It’s a dystopia.”
The war between the two began to escalate earlier this year when Moraes demanded that X block users who posted clearly false or inflammatory posts.
Moraes ordered the social media platform to block certain accounts implicated in investigations into so-called “digital militias” that have been accused of spreading fake news and hate messages during the government of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered an immediate ban on X in Brazil, which began early Saturday.
An advertisement from Valor media outlet shows a photo of Elon Musk at a shopping mall in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. The sign reads in Portuguese: ‘Musk creates profile on X against Moraes to leak confidential Supreme Court decisions,’ in reference to Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, who ordered the platform blocked for failing to appoint a local legal representative as required by law.
After Musk challenged that ruling and said he would reactivate the X accounts that the judge had ordered blocked, Moraes opened an investigation into the billionaire in early April.
Representatives for X eventually changed their stance and told the Supreme Court that the social media giant would abide by the legal rulings.
However, in April, Moraes asked X to explain why he allegedly had not fully complied with his decisions and ordered fines of $20,000 per day for any accounts X reactivated.
In response, lawyers representing X in Brazil told the Supreme Court that “operational failures” had allowed users who were ordered to be blocked to remain active on the social media platform.
Since then, the legal battle between the two has become increasingly tense, with Moraes warning Musk on Wednesday that X would be banned if the company did not notify the Supreme Court who its legal representative in Brazil was.
The platform refused to do so.
On Thursday, Moraes also froze the assets of Starlink Holding in Brazil, which Musk also owns, to ensure that fines imposed by the courts would be paid, several Brazilian media reported.
Tesla’s CEO responded on X by saying that Moraes was “a criminal of the worst kind, disguised as a judge.”
In a separate post, he called the judge a “tyrant” and “dictator of Brazil” and added that President Lula da Silva was his “lapdog.”
Hours after the judge’s decision, Musk said on X that Moraes “has repeatedly violated the laws he has sworn to uphold.”
Moraes, who rarely gives interviews and has avoided mentioning Musk or X by name in his recent comments on the issue, said Friday: “We have the right to defend fundamental rights.
“Those who violate democracy, who violate fundamental human rights, whether in person or through social media, must be held accountable.”
