- Elon Musk will be investigated over fake news and obstruction in Brazil after a Supreme Court order
An activist Brazilian Supreme Court justice has named Elon Musk a target in a probe into fake news and obstruction.
In his decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes noted that Musk began a public “disinformation campaign” about the top court’s actions on Saturday and continued the following day, including comments that his social media company X would stop blocking accounts.
Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO who took over Twitter in late 2022, accused de Moraes of stifling free expression and violating Brazil’s constitution on X and suggested users use VPNs to escape any suspension.
The verdict states that Musk will be probed for willful illegal instrumentalization of X as part of a case against digital militias that distribute defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices. Musk will be investigated for obstruction, criminal organisation, and incitement.
“The flagrant obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime, public threat of disobedience of court orders and future lack of cooperation from the platform disrespect the sovereignty of Brazil,” de Moraes stated Sunday.
X’s press office did not respond to The Associated Press’s request for comment, and Musk had only posted briefly on X as of Monday morning.
The Brazilian right has long accused de Moraes of repressing free speech and persecuting political opponents. In the digital militias probe, former President Jair Bolsonaro’s allies were imprisoned and his followers’ residences seized. The investigation targeted Bolsonaro in 2021.
In March 2022, the justice ordered Telegram’s nationwide shutdown because it repeatedly ignored requests from Brazilian authorities, including a police request to block profiles and provide information linked to blogger Allan dos Santos, a Bolsonaro ally accused of spreading falsehoods. In Brazil, X blocked Dos Santos’ account. In 2022, de Moraes stated Telegram complied and resumed operations within 48 hours.
De Moraes’ defenders say his extraordinary decisions are legally sound and necessary to purge social media of fake news and extinguish threats to Brazilian democracy, as shown by the Jan. 8, 2023, uprising in Brazil’s capital that resembled the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, announced on X on Saturday that the platform would abolish all limitations on blocked users, predicting that Brazil’s revenue would dry up and force the firm to close its local operation.
“But principles matter more than profit,” he wrote.
