Repercussions from the October 2023 Brazilian presidential election continue to roil the South American nation, after President Jair Bolsanaro lost in what some considered a rigged election by Lula–a leftist felon and former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Despite the questions about the election, Bolsanaro urged his supporters not to hold protests and to accept the results, saying that they should “show we are different from the other side, that we respect the norms and the Constitution,” the BBC reported at the time of the inauguration in January.
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Now, censorship has raised its ugly head in Brazil, thanks to Lula’s thug leftists in the judicial system. Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Elon Musk’s social media platform X, via a legal representative in the country, to suspend the accounts of political enemies (in other words, supporters of Bolsonaro), who the government is investigating. If the X lawyer disobeyed, he would be arrested–and there would be personal consequences for X owner Elon Musk, too:
Mr Moraes had ordered X accounts he has accused of spreading disinformation – many supporters of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsanaro – must be blocked while they are under investigation.
After X owner Musk criticised Mr Moraes, the judge ordered 100,000 reais ($19,774; £15,670) fines a day for any account that X reactivated, and stressed the possible liability of the company’s legal representatives in Brazil if this were to happen.
He also put Mr Musk under investigation for charges including the obstruction of justice.
The BBC report continued:
X said in a statement that Brazilian staff had no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked but Mr Moraes has chosen to threaten staff in Brazil rather than respect the law.
“As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil, effective immediately,” X said.
“The responsibility lies solely with Alexandre de Moraes.
“His actions are incompatible with democratic government.”
As usual, Musk held his ground. He explained why the company decided to close the office in an X post:
The decision to close the 𝕏 office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandre’s (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024
If you can’t read the post, it says:
The decision to close the 𝕏 office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandre’s (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed.
X told the BBC on Saturday that Brazilians can still access the platform. At the time of this writing, Brazil’s Supreme Court had not commented on the story.
This is a developing story. RedState will provide updates as they become available.
Related: Brazil’s Soccer ‘King’ Pelé, Dead at 82
