04.08.2024
‘We have reached the limit.’ Clash with Elon Musk prompts calls for
social media controls in Brazil
London (CNN) — Brazil’s attorney general has called for social media
platforms in the country to be regulated after Elon Musk threatened
to disobey a court order banning certain accounts on X and lashed
out against “aggressive censorship.”
In a post on X Sunday, Attorney General Jorge Messias wrote: “It is
urgent to regulate social networks. We cannot live in a society in
which billionaires domiciled abroad have control of social networks
and put themselves in a position to violate the rule of law, failing to
comply with court orders and threatening our authorities.”
In a statement, Brazil’s Supreme Court described Musk’s defiance as
a “flagrant” obstruction of justice and said he should be investigated
by the police. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes
announced Sunday that he would open an inquiry into the billionaire
businessman who owns X.
The standoff is the latest clash between authorities around the world
and Musk – a self-declared “free speech absolutist” who has relaxed
X’s content moderation policies and reinstated a number of
previously blocked accounts after buying the company, formerly
known as Twitter, in 2022.
Orlando Silva, a Brazilian lawmaker aligned with the country’s leftwing government, said he would propose a “responsibilities regime
for these digital platforms.” “We have reached the limit!” he posted
on X, adding that Musk had disrespected the judiciary.
On Saturday, X’s global government affairs team posted that it had
been “forced by court decisions to block certain popular accounts in
Brazil” and threatened with “daily fines” for non-compliance.
“We do not know which posts are alleged to violate the law. We are
prohibited from saying which court or judge issued the order, or on
what grounds,” they wrote. They do not believe the orders are
constitutional and will challenge them legally where possible, they
added.
The Supreme Court had ordered that the accounts be blocked as part
of its ongoing investigation into “digital militias,” which, among
other things, is looking into the spread of misinformation and
incitement of crime under the government of former far-right
President Jair Bolsonaro.
Social media platforms have been widely viewed as a catalyst for
riots in Brazil that took place on January 8 last year, when hundreds
of protesters broke into federal government buildings in the capital
Brasilia, in scenes reminiscent of the January 6, 2021, insurrection in
the United States.
Musk suggested that Moraes was behind the ban, writing Sunday on
X that the judge had “brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the
constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be
impeached.”
In a separate post Saturday, he called the court’s decision to block
the accounts “aggressive censorship” that “appears to violate the
law and will of the people of Brazil.” He said X would defy the court’s
order and lift all restrictions.
“As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to
shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit,”
he noted.
X has faced criticism for accommodating government censorship
demands in the past, with Musk saying the company has no choice
but to comply. For example, it blocked some X accounts in Turkey at
the behest of the government ahead of the country’s elections last
year, while at the same time contesting the orders in court.
(Internet: < https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/08/tech/elon-musk-brazilinvestigation/index.html> )