The minister says the company’s failure to comply with Brazilian laws “represents a very serious risk for municipal elections” and links the online posts to the January 8 invasions of the National Congress
The Minister Alexander of Moraesfrom Supreme Federal Court (STF)ordered the suspension of the social network X after the businessman Elon Muskowner of the platform, refuses to appoint a representative to answer on behalf of the company in Brazil. In the decision, the judge says that the former Twitter’s attempt to place itself outside Brazilian jurisdiction could increase the spread of content classified by the minister as illicit, especially in the context of this year’s election period, allowing “very serious attacks on democracy.”
“The conduct of the international majority shareholder of Twitter International Unlimited Company to close the activities of the October municipal elections, as demonstrated by Elon Musk, with the collaboration of legal representatives in Brazil, who intend to reiterate their conduct aimed at allowing the massive spread of disinformation, incitement to hatred and attacks on the democratic rule of law, violating the free choice of the electorate, distancing voters from real and correct information,” Moraes states in the document.
According to the judge, X’s attempt to deny clarifications to the Brazilian justice system, especially during the election period, demonstrates the intention, on the part of the company and Musk, to “allow the instrumentalization of social networks, with the massive spread of disinformation and the possibility of the harmful and illicit use of technology and artificial intelligence to clandestinely direct the will of the electorate, putting democracy at risk through the new extremist digital populism”.
The STF minister also emphasizes that the use of social networks in the country, such as X, to spread hate speech and attacks against democracy is “nothing new.” The judge also indicates that posts published on the platform may have contributed to the invasion of the National Congress on January 8, 2023. “Did the culmination of this instrumentalization contribute to the attempted coup and attack against democratic institutions that occurred on 1/8/2023?”, the decision reads.
Alexandre de Moraes highlights Musk and X’s lack of cooperation with judicial bodies in various parts of the world, citing the European Union and Australia. He mentions the “repeated behavior of violation of the sovereignty of several countries”, a circumstance that, according to him, does not only occur in Brazil, which “has allowed this platform to be repeatedly instrumentalized for the practice of numerous criminal offenses and attacks against Democracy.”
“The implementation of effective legal and, consequently, jurisdictional control over disinformation is a global reality, especially in relation to contents that constitute Nazi, racist, misogynistic speeches, the practice of terrorism, incitement to hatred and the suppression of the democratic order and the Rule of Law, to guarantee the defense of the effectiveness of Fundamental Rights, of an egalitarian and universal nature”, argues Moraes.
Source: Terra
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