Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, looks on during sessions at the Milken Conference 2024 Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 6, 2024.
David Swanson | Reuters
Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp. CEO Elon Musk stepped up his online attacks on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Thursday, amid an intensifying political and legal battle between the tech billionaire and his companies and Brazil’s highest court.
X Global Government Affairs released a statement Thursday night ahead of its planned suspension of its platform in Brazil. The company said in part that X plans to release all of De Moraes’ requests, which it considers illegal, and related court documents in the coming days “in the interest of transparency.”
The De Moraes court announced Wednesday that it was ordering Musk and X Corp. to appoint a legal representative for the social media company, formerly known as Twitter, in Brazil within 24 hours or X would face a “penalty of suspension of activities” in that country.
A suspension of X in Brazil could cause serious business problems for the already struggling social network. Brazil has a population of more than 171 million active social media users, according to a market study by Oosga.
The country is preparing for municipal elections in October. And under Brazilian law, social networks must employ a person authorized to receive and review government takedown notices regarding political disinformation.
X has no such employees in Brazil, after the company announced it was withdrawing all its employees from the country earlier this month.
On Wednesday night, Musk posted a doctored image that appeared to show the judge behind bars. “One day @Alexander this picture of you in jail will be real. Mark my words,” Musk wrote to de Moraes and Musk’s 195.8 million followers on X.
On Thursday, reports from G1 Globo in Brazil revealed that de Moraes had ordered “the freezing of all financial assets” of Musk’s companies in Brazil, including SpaceX-owned Starlink, to “guarantee payment of the fines” the court had imposed on X.
“Earlier this week, we received an order from Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes freezing Starlink’s finances and preventing Starlink from conducting financial transactions in that country,” the company said in a statement released Wednesday evening.
“This order is based on an unfounded decision that Starlink should be liable for the fines imposed – unconstitutionally – on X,” the company said. “It was issued in secret and without granting Starlink any of the procedural guarantees provided for in the Brazilian Constitution. We intend to settle this matter in court.”
On August 29, 2024, in Brazil, the Minister of the Supreme Court, STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes, orders the blocking of the accounts of another company, Starlink, of Elon Musk, to guarantee the payment of the fines imposed by the STF due to the absence of representatives of X in Brazil.
Your Molina | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by SpaceX. It is now licensed for commercial operations in 105 countries, including Brazil. Starlink has been advertising on X under Elon Musk, and he has encouraged Brazilians to use Starlink to access X.
Elon Musk, X Corp. CEO Linda Yaccarino and SpaceX representatives did not respond to CNBC’s request for further information Thursday afternoon.
On Thursday, Elon Musk called Moraes a “hardcore criminal” who “is simply posing as a judge” in a post on X. The tech billionaire continued: “The tyrant, @Alexandre, is the dictator of Brazil. Lula is his lapdog,” referring to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was elected president of Brazil in 2022, defeating former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro is a longtime ally of Elon Musk, and his administration has granted Musk the right to operate Starlink in Brazil and awarded him a medal in recognition of his contributions to the country. Bolsonaro’s right-wing supporters have become visible fans of the tech billionaire.
A man hangs flags with a portrait of tech mogul Elon Musk during a protest called by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 21, 2024.
Mauro Pimentel | AFP | Getty Images
De Moraes’s critics see him as a censor who has overstepped his role. His supporters hail the court’s efforts to stem harmful online disinformation in Brazil.
Earlier this year, on April 7, Judge de Moraes opened an investigation into Musk and X Corp. for their alleged obstruction of justice.
While Musk had announced that he would defy Brazilian court orders to restrict or suspend some popular accounts on X on April 15, lawyers representing the social network told Brazil’s Supreme Court that they would indeed comply with the court’s orders.
De Moraes’ court is also investigating Musk and X as part of a broader probe into so-called digital militias in Brazil, people accused of spreading disinformation online with the aim of attacking the country’s democratic institutions.
X Corp. has been subpoenaed by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to share information about Brazilian court orders regarding content moderation. The Republican-controlled committee, concerned about censorship, released information about Brazilian court orders requiring X to suspend or remove about 150 user accounts from its platform over the past few years.
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