“We have reached the limit.” Clash with Elon Musk sparks calls for control of social media in Brazil

Brazil’s attorney general has called for regulation of social media platforms in the country after Elon Musk threatened to disobey a court order banning certain accounts on X and slammed “aggressive censorship.”

In a job On Sunday X, Attorney General Jorge Messias wrote: “It is urgent to regulate social networks. We cannot live in a society in which billionaires domiciled abroad control social networks and put themselves in a position to violate the rule of law, disrespecting court decisions and threatening our authorities.”

In a statement, Brazil’s Supreme Court called Musk’s behavior a “blatant” obstruction of justice and said he should be investigated by police. Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes announced on Sunday that he would open an investigation into the billionaire businessman who owns X.

The standoff is the latest clash between authorities around the world and Musk – a self-described “free speech absolutist” who relaxed X’s content moderation policies and reinstated a number of previously blocked accounts after buying the company. company, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022.

Orlando Silva, a Brazilian lawmaker aligned with the country’s left-wing government, said he would propose a “regime of responsibilities for these digital platforms.” “We have reached the limit!” ” he job on X, adding that Musk had disrespected the judiciary.

On Saturday, X’s Global Government Affairs team job that she had been “forced by court decisions to block certain popular accounts in Brazil” and threatened with “daily fines” for non-compliance.

“We don’t know which messages would violate the law. We are prohibited from saying which court or judge issued the order, or on what grounds,” they wrote. They do not believe these orders are constitutional and will legally challenge them where possible, they added.

The Supreme Court ordered the blocking of these accounts as part of its ongoing investigation into “digital militias”, which is investigating, among other things, the dissemination of false information and incitement to crime under the government of the former president of far right Jair Bolsonaro. .

The story continues

Social media platforms were widely seen as a catalyst for the riots that took place in Brazil on January 8 last year, when hundreds of protesters broke into federal government buildings in the capital Brasilia, in scenes reminiscent of the insurrection of January 6, 2021. United States.

Musk suggested that Moraes was behind the ban, writing on X on Sunday that the judge had “brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil.” He should resign or be impeached.

In another article on Saturday, he called the court’s decision to block the accounts is subject to “aggressive censorship” that “appears to violate the law and the will of the Brazilian people.” He said X would defy the court order and lift all restrictions.

“As a result, we will likely lose all our revenue in Brazil and have to close our offices there. But principles matter more than profit,” he stressed.

X has been criticized for acceding to government censorship requests in the past, with Musk saying the company had no choice but to comply. For example, it blocked some X accounts in Turkey at the government’s request before last year’s elections, while challenging the decisions in court.

For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com