Elon Musk is being investigated by a Brazilian judge for obstruction of justice after the tech billionaire threatened to ignore a ruling requiring the removal of X accounts that were allegedly disseminating fake news.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Court stated in a ruling on Sunday that the investigation will look into whether Musk, the owner of X, participated in incitement, obstruction, or criminal organization.
De Moraes ordered X to “refrain from disobeying judicial orders, including by reactivating an account that the Supreme Court ordered blocked.” “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,” de Moraes wrote.
For each account that is reactivated in violation of the court order, X might be fined 100,000 reais ($19,770) every day.
Moraes also mandated that Musk be included in a wider investigation into what are known as “digital militias,” a phrase used to describe individuals who are alleged to have distributed false material online in an attempt to undermine Brazil’s democratic institutions.
Musk had previously stated over the weekend that he would disobey the court’s orders to limit or suspend certain well-known accounts on its network.
“We are lifting all restrictions. This court has imposed hefty penalties, made threats to detain our staff, and blocked access to Brazil. We will thus most likely have to close our office in Brazil and forfeit all of our earnings there. However, values are more important than money”, he wrote on X.
Musk was still stirring up trouble on Sunday, asking the Brazilian Supreme Court to remove or impeach Moraes. The tech mogul also claimed that the Brazilian judge had breached the law, allegedly threatening to release evidence that would portray him as a traitor to his own nation.
One of the eleven justices of Brazil’s supreme court, De Moraes is well-known for being divisive in the biggest nation in Latin America. Due to his leadership in the fight against hate speech and misinformation on the internet, the judge is seen by many on the left as a democratic savior and by many on the right as a threat to it.
Most notably, he has been in charge of an inquiry against former President Jair Bolsonaro since last year due to claims that he was plotting a military takeover before to his loss in the 2022 presidential contest.
