Brazilian Supreme Court Investigates Elon Musk After Refusal to Block X Accounts

A Supreme Court judge in Brazil started an investigation into Musk on April 7. This happened after Musk announced he would unblock accounts on the social media platform X, which the judge had previously ordered to be blocked.

On April 6, X Corp received a court order from Justice Alexandre de Moraes, forcing it to block some well-known accounts on X. The court order also intends to stop X from sharing information about these blocked accounts. If it doesn’t follow the order, X could face fines of up to $20,000 per day, according to reports by The Associated Press.

X Corp’s Global Affairs team reported that the company is unaware of specific reasons for this order or which posts allegedly broke the law. The team says that these orders conflict with Brazil’s internet laws and the constitution and intends to challenge them legally wherever possible.

Elon Musk posted on X that this rule could cause the company to lose all its money and might even close its offices in Brazil. He mentioned that X would lift all the restrictions because they were unconstitutional. Musk also called for Moraes to either resign or face impeachment.

As reported by the Washington Post, the blocked accounts include at least nine people with far-right ideals, some of whom have close ties to far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. Court records say the people behind the blocked accounts were spreading misinformation and anti-democratic ideas in Brazil.

Forbes reported that since Musk took over, X has agreed to about 80% of government requests to remove content, which is actually more than the 50% they used to follow before he took over the company.

The clash between X and Brazilian authorities reveals deep tensions and uncertainties over free speech, digital rights, and how global online platforms can affect government control. It also poses crucial questions for the future of digital governance and the role of social media platforms in the political landscape.