Elon Musk is considered a champion of free speech. Recently, however, his Platform X was also used in Brazil to spread hate speech and disinformation. Musk is now being investigated.
After threats from tech billionaire Elon Musk, Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes of the South American country’s Supreme Court has opened an investigation against the businessman. There is evidence of obstruction of justice and incitement to crime, reported the television station TV Globo, citing court documents. Moraes is conducting several proceedings in Brazil, including against so-called digital militias, which are said to have spread false information and hate speech on social networks, especially during the term of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).
As part of the investigation, Moraes ordered the closure of several suspect accounts on Musk’s messaging platform X, formerly Twitter. “This judge has shamelessly and repeatedly betrayed the Constitution and the Brazilian people,” Musk wrote on X over the weekend. “He should resign or be removed. Shame on you, Alexandre, shame.” He also threatened to publish details of the order blocking the X accounts, something the Supreme Court had previously banned.
Musk sees himself as a defender of free speech. However, his network was recently used in Brazil to mobilize for anti-democratic actions. A so-called hate cabinet in Bolsonaro’s presidential office is said to have organized smear campaigns against political opponents and cast doubt on the Brazilian electoral system. “Social networks are not a legal vacuum,” Judge Moraes wrote in his investigative order, according to media reports.
Source: Stern
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