Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Minister Alexandre de Moraes was accused of allowing him to be elected president for a third term.
Musk also called the STF minister, a title roughly equivalent to a U.S. Supreme Court justice, Brazil’s “brutal dictator” in the latest episode of heightened tensions between the X social media platform and Brazil’s judiciary. is.
“Why does Congress allow it?” [Alexandre de Moraes] Is it the power of a brutal dictator? ” Musk wrote Monday night. “They were chosen, but he was not chosen. Get rid of him.”
“But since Alexandre pulled Lula out of prison and put his thumb on the scale to get Lula elected, Lula clearly won’t take action against him,” he wrote in a follow-up post. continued. “The next election will be key.”
But since Alexander pulled Lula out of prison and put his thumb on the scale to get Lula elected, Lula clearly won’t take action against him.
The next election will be key.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024
In a third separate post, Musk asked, “How did Alexandre de Moraes become the dictator of Brazil?” “He has Lula on a leash,” the minister said.
how @Alexandre Will De Moraes become Brazil’s dictator? He has Lula on a leash 😂
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024
De Moraes, an “anti-fake news campaigner” and leader of Brazil’s High Electoral Tribunal (TSE), has accused Musk and his social network of “obstructing justice” and “inciting a crime” following the Tesla CEO’s resignation. An investigation has been launched into media platforms. announced It said it would defy a Brazilian court order to censor numerous private posts. The order fined the company approximately $19,770 per day for each account the platform failed to censor.
In addition to launching an investigation into Musk, de Moraes included the Tesla CEO in a separate investigation launched in July 2021 into charges of an “anti-democratic digital militia” spreading “fake news.” . De Moraes claimed that Musk was included in the investigation because of the alleged “intentional criminal use” of a social networking platform owned by Musk.
musk announced On Sunday, the X platform said it would soon publish “everything” de Moraes had requested, repeating his calls for the minister’s impeachment or resignation.
Masks on Monday claimed Company X was forced to move its Brazilian employees to a safe location before disclosing the information. caveat The employees said they were told they would be arrested.
Musk said in a live broadcast Monday that de Moraes had ordered the suspension of “accounts of sitting members of Congress and leading journalists.”
“We could not tell them that this was on Alexander’s orders.” [de Moraes]we had to pretend it was by our rules,” Musk said.
“We continued to receive requests from Judge Aleksandr to suspend the accounts of sitting members of parliament and leading journalists. I had to pretend like I was.” 🇷
Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/mfbPZFj7yG
— Doge Designer (@cb_doge) April 8, 2024
Lula, whose third presidential term began in January 2023, faced a narrow presidential election. lost A controversial runoff election in October 2022 left him with less than two points between him and his predecessor, conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro and the Liberal Party (PL) formally filed the lawsuit in November 2022. challenge election results. PL claimed that there were irregularities in the functionality of 59% of the electronic voting machines used in the election, which could have influenced the final results.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
As head of Brazil’s highest electoral authority, Mr. de Moraes was denied The lawsuit was swiftly filed and resulted in the Liberal Party being fined approximately $4.27 million for “bad faith litigation.”
During the presidential campaign, Mr. de Moraes proposed the following policies: censorship Bolsonaro’s camp was prohibited from calling Lula a “thief” or “criminal,” citing the Brazilian president’s multiple past convictions on corruption charges.
The TSE was also under the de Moraes administration. Banned Bolsonaro has been suspended from running until 2030 for allegedly spreading “misinformation” about Brazil’s voting machines during an official meeting with foreign ambassadors in July 2022. Mr Bolsonaro is currently stuck in Brazil and unable to leave the country due to Mr de Moraes’ orders to local police authorities.to grab The former president’s passport was seized as part of a broader investigation into allegations of a “coup” plot following Bolsonaro’s defeat in the 2022 presidential election.
A controversial election and its close result prompted thousands of Brazilians to take action peacefully across the country protests In the weeks that followed, Lula’s opponents grew by the thousands. storm It caused damage to the grounds of the National Parliament, the Federal Supreme Court, and the Planalto Presidential Palace, damaging the facilities, furniture, and valuable historical artifacts housed there.
On January 8, 2023, supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro clash with security forces during an invasion of Brazil’s Planalto Presidential Palace. (TON MOLINA/AFP via Getty Images)
Lula, who served as Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2010, was sentenced to 25 years in prison before he can run again for accepting bribes that were used to renovate a $1 million luxury beachfront home while he was president. I received it.
In 2021, the Brazilian Supreme Court will turned over Lula was found guilty on procedural grounds, allowing him to run for president again in 2022. The ruling overturned the conviction but did not challenge the evidence against Lula that led to the original conviction.
Brazilian news agency UOL interviewed Local experts claimed on Monday that Musk’s social media platforms could be banned in Brazil as a result of his failure to comply with de Moraes’ court orders.
Experts mentioned messaging platforms whatsapp and telegram As an example of a previously banned platform. The ban on both messaging platforms has been lifted.
“Decisions of this kind have always been overturned because they are considered censorship,” Andre Marsilia, a constitutional lawyer specializing in free speech, told UOL. “By shutting down the service, you are punishing the users who take advantage of the network, not the platform.”
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
