On Thursday night, X’s Global Government Affairs account posted a dire warning over service availability in Brazil, after dictatorial Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes punished them for not complying “with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents,” according to the post.
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When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts. Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him.
We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.
In the days to come, we will publish all of Judge de Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency.
Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders.
To our users in Brazil and around the world, X remains committed to protecting your freedom of speech.
Meanwhile, Musk says that SpaceX is going to continue to provide Starlink in Brazil to schools and hospitals for free…
Many remote schools and hospitals depend on SpaceX’s Starlink!
SpaceX will provide Internet service to users in Brazil for free until this matter is resolved, as we cannot receive payment, but don’t want to cut anyone off. https://t.co/BHlPpbsKR6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2024
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One day after Brazillian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes threatened to suspend social media platform X unless Elon Musk appoints a new legal representative in 24 hours, the judge – dubbed “Brazil’s Darth Vader” by Musk – issued a subpoena against the company.
Today, he blocked the financial accounts of Musk-owned Starlink Holdings, due to the absence of an attorney.
Exactly https://t.co/a09umuAXEO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2024
According to Moraes, the companies are a “de facto economic group” commanded by Musk.
This guy @Alexandre is an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge https://t.co/l5zZ7gplSI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2024
On August 18, Moraes sanctioned X’s bank accounts in order to guarantee the payment of fines imposed by the Brazilian justice for refusing to censor content, Metropoles reports.
According to information published by the G1 and confirmed by the Metropolis, advisors to the office of Minister Alexandre de Moraes said that another company under Musk in the country, Starlink Holding, responsible for the sale of satellite internet services, also had the finances blocked.
All Starlink managers in Brazil received notifications and were subpoenaed to answer for the values due to the Brazilian Justice by the network X. -Metropoles (translated)
In response, Musk called Moraes a dictator, and said “this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words.”
The tyrant, @Alexandre, is dictator of Brazil. Lula is his lapdog. https://t.co/svONz3iv5S
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2024
One day, @Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words. pic.twitter.com/ZkHExAwQxm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2024
Earlier this month, Moraes ordered an investigation into Musk after the billionaire vowed to defy a court order as part of an ongoing probe into social media accounts allegedly spreading misinformation and ‘hate’ speech.
“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,” wrote de Moraes.
While X initially said in a they would comply, blocking certain popular accounts in Brazil – Musk said an hour later, after the release of the “TWITTER FILES BRAZIL,” that they would not, noting that “As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there.”
BRAZIL IS ON THE BRINK
I’m reporting to you from Brazil, where a dramatic series of events are underway.
At 5:52 pm Eastern Time, today, April 6, 2024, X corporation, formerly known as Twitter, announced that a Brazilian court had forced it to “block certain popular accounts in… pic.twitter.com/GjdAgmkCBo
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) April 7, 2024
in a post the next day, Musk said that Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had “brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil,” and should “resign or be impeached.”
De Moraes said that as part of his decision to open an inquiry, that “X shall refrain from disobeying any court order already issued, including performing any profile reactivation that has been blocked by this Supreme Court,” Reuters reports.
The justice said that Musk would face a fine that equates to approximately $20,000 each time an account is reactivated on X.
😂
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2024
Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/29/2024 – 21:31
