Minutes after the deadline given by Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF, in Portuguese) for the appointment of a legal representative in the country for the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), tech tycoon Elon Musk decided, once again, to double down and refused to comply with the order.
In a post on the Global Government Affairs page on Thursday evening (29), X stated that it expects the justice to order the app to be blocked in Brazil soon “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
Making it clear that it would not appoint a new representative, the message accuses Moraes of allegedly giving “illegal” orders. The text goes so far as to state that Moraes demands that the platform violate Brazilian laws, but without explaining what those laws are.
The statement, which does not bear Musk's signature, also attacks the other Supreme Court justices by saying that “Justice Alexandre de Moraes' colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unable or unwilling to confront him.”
There is also a promise that “in the days to come” “all of Judge [sic] de Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings” will be published “in the interest of transparency”, as well as empty defenses of “freedom of speech."
X still on
The post by the government affairs account came hours after Musk, on his X personal profile, posted insults against Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court and the Brazilian government.
During the day, he went so far as to say that the justice was a “tyrant” and that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party) was his “little dog”.
The deadline the Supreme Court determined for the platform to appoint a legal representative in the country expired at 8:07 pm (local time) on Thursday. By 8.45 pm, however, X was still on in Brazil.
The order to appoint a new representative came after Musk closed X offices and fired all employees in Brazil on August 17, alleging censorship. With a fortune estimated at US$250 billion, Musk often supports far-right politicians, such as Donald Trump in the US.
Recently, there has been growing pressure to hold him accountable for interfering in the internal political affairs of several countries. The South African-born US citizen has already suggested a coup in Bolivia (which has large lithium reserves), has been accused of interfering in the 2024 presidential elections in Venezuela and has said that a civil war in the United Kingdom is inevitable.
Edited by: Felipe Mendes
