X/Twitter owner Elon Musk accuses the Federal Supreme Court of practicing censorship and says the social network could close in Brazil
In a series of tweets made last Saturday (6), the businessman Elon Musk challenged the Federal Superior Court (STF) stating that it can reactivate the accounts suspended by the Brazilian Court and went so far as to say that X/Twitter can leave Brazil.
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“We are lifting all restrictions,” the billionaire wrote. “This judge [do STF Alexandre de Moraes] imposed heavy fines, threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to X in Brazil. As a result, we will likely lose all revenue in Brazil and will have to close our office there. But principles are more important than profit,” she continued.
The above comment was not Musk’s first to the STF and Minister Alexandre de Moraes. In other publications, the entrepreneur accused the Supreme Court of implementing an “aggressive censorship” that violated “the law and the will of the Brazilian people”, and also directly questioned Moraes in an online post asking “why so much censorship is requested in Brazil”.
Brazil Twitter files
Musk’s accusations come days after the release of so-called Twitter files involving Brazil. The hitherto confidential documents include email exchanges between Brazilian authorities and company executives in recent years, before Musk’s takeover in 2022. The messages were forwarded online to journalists and, this week, the American journalist Michael Shellenberger published a series of tweets in which he analyzes the content.
Shellenberger’s publications bolster Musk’s argument that judicial orders requiring content removal in criminal investigations into the spread of fake news or disinformation regarding elections or the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, as well as requests for data and the imposition of account restrictions relating to such publications would constitute censorship and political persecution by the Brazilian judicial system.
We are lifting all restrictions. This judge levied large fines, threatened to arrest our employees, and cut off access to 𝕏 in Brazil.
As a result, we will likely lose all revenue in Brazil and will have to close our office there.
But principles matter more than…
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 6, 2024
Will Twitter leave Brazil?
Despite his accusatory tone and threat to leave Brazil, Musk did not go into detail about what restrictions he will remove or which accounts will benefit from the “pardon” from the billionaire who bought Twitter in 2022 – and has since taken a series of From controversial decisions at least at the head of the platform.
It is worth mentioning that, according to the Statista website, Brazil currently has 22 million active Twitter users, making it the sixth largest market on the planet for the social network. That means 6% of all 335 million X users are here.
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Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
