The fight between a Brazilian judge and Elon Musk is continuing to escalate after the former announced an inquiry against the billionaire over the restoration of accounts that the court had ordered to be banned.
Musk, the owner of X and a self-declared free speech absolutist, has challenged a decision by Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordering the blocking of certain accounts.
He has said X, formerly known as Twitter, would lift all the restrictions because they were unconstitutional and called on Moraes to resign.
Neither Musk, X nor Brazilian authorities have disclosed which social media accounts were ordered blocked. X first posted about the order to block on Saturday but it was not immediately clear when the order was issued.
Moraes is investigating “digital militias” that have been accused of spreading fake news and hate messages during the government of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and is also leading an investigation into an alleged coup attempt by Bolsonaro.
Musk, in an X post on Saturday evening, accused Moraes of “brazenly and repeatedly” betraying the constitution and people of Brazil.
“This judge has applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees, and cut off access to X in Brazil,” he said in the post.
“As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit.”
The billionaire has pledged to legally challenge the order blocking X accounts where possible.
In his decision, Moraes said: “X shall refrain from disobeying any court order already issued, including performing any profile reactivation that has been blocked by this Supreme Court.”
If X fails to comply with the order to block certain accounts the company will be fined 100,000 reais ($19,740) per day, the judge said in a statement released to media.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s leftist government expressed support for Moraes, with Solicitor General Jorge Messias criticizing Musk and calling for the regulation of social media networks to prevent foreign platforms from violating Brazilian laws.
