Billionaire Elon Musk attacked the Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes in a post on X. Musk’s post came after the de Moraes ruling to block the bank accounts of Musk’s Starlink internet firm in Brazil.
“Alexandre de Moraes is an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge,” said Musk in a post on X.
Starlink, confirmed in a post on Thursday, that it has received an order from Brazil’s SC that restricts the company from conducting any financial transactions in the country. “The order was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the constitution of Brazil,” said the company in its post.
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What is the feud between Elon Musk and Brazil’s SC Judge?
The tussle between the Tesla CEO and Brazil’s SC judge began, when the latter ordered X to suspend nearly 100 accounts for spreading misinformation and disinformation in Brazil. Musk decided not to conform with the court’s order and said that the suspension would lead to the curbing of free speech in Brazil.
Consequently, the judge alleged Musk of starting a “disinformation campaign.” He called out Elon Musk’s move to not carry out the orders, as it signaled disrespect for Brazil’s sovereignty.
In August, the global social media platform X announced that it would close its operations in Brazil and layoff its employees because of the “censorship orders” that the company received.
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The Thursday ruling blocking Starlink’s bank account is the recent development in the ongoing feud. However, as per a report by Reuters, the freezing of bank accounts is because of a different dispute. The dispute entailed non-payment of fines imposed by SC Justice on X over some documents and lack of legal representatives in Brazil for the social media platform.
Why does the ruling signal a possible ban of X in Brazil?
The Brazil SC judge Moraes, said on Wednesday, that X will be banned in Brazil if the company fails to appoint a legal representative by Thursday night.
The Brazilian legal framework mandates all internet companies, carrying out operations in the country to have a legal representative.
Following this, X’s global government affairs said in its response that it will not abide by the judge’s illegal orders. “Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil- simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents...,” said X’s global government affairs in a post on X.
