2024-08-18 14:38:00
Elon Musk has made a radical decision. The owner of X announced on Saturday that the Brazilian offices of the social network would close due to a standoff between the billionaire and a judge of the Brazilian Supreme Court. “X has no choice but to close (its) local operations in Brazil”wrote Elon Musk. “X service remains available for Brazilians”a separate company statement said. The group said it was forced to make the decision “protect security” of its staff on site.
He assured that Judge Alexandre de Moraes had “Threatened with arrest our legal representative in Brazil” in the event of non-compliance with what the social network considers to be decisions of « censure » aimed at blocking certain content. “The decision to close X’s offices in Brazil was difficult”said Elon Musk. “But if we had accepted Alexandre de Moraes’ secret (illegal) censorship and requests for the transfer of private information, we would not have been able to explain our actions without feeling ashamed.”
Musk attacks government
The Secretary of Digital Policies in the Brazilian government, Joao Brant, criticized the“pathetic attitude” of X. According to him, the social network causes a “probable escalation which could lead to the blocking of the platform”. Alexander de Moraes “is a disgrace to justice” et “must go”said Elon Musk. The billionaire had previously called the magistrate a “dictator”.
In the name of the fight against disinformation, the judge has ordered in recent years the blocking of the accounts of influential figures of Brazil’s ultra-conservative movements. This is particularly true since the attempts of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, an admirer of Elon Musk, to discredit the electronic voting system in the election won by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In April, X admitted that users of several blocked accounts had managed to circumvent the restrictions.
“Despite our numerous unheard appeals to the Supreme Court, a Brazilian public uninformed about these rulings, and the fact that our Brazilian staff have no responsibility or control over the content blocked on our platform”Judge Moraes “chose to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law and its procedures”the social network said on Saturday.
(with AFP)
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