RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) \u2014 A crusading\u00a0Brazilian Supreme Court justice\u00a0included Elon Musk as a target in an ongoing investigation over the dissemination of fake news and opened a separate investigation late Sunday into the executive for alleged obstruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes noted that Musk on Saturday began waging a public \u201cdisinformation campaign\u201d regarding the top court\u2019s actions, and that Musk continued the following day \u2014 most notably with comments that his social media company X would cease to comply with the court\u2019s orders to block certain accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime, the public threat of disobedience of court orders and future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespect the sovereignty of Brazil,\u201d de Moraes wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk will be investigated for alleged intentional criminal instrumentalization of X as part of an investigation into a network of people known as digital militias who\u00a0allegedly spread defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices, according to the text of the decision. The new investigation will look into whether Musk engaged in obstruction, criminal organization and incitement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk has not commented on X about the latest development as of late Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brazil\u2019s political right has long\u00a0characterized de Moraes\u00a0as overstepping his bounds to clamp down on free speech and engage in political persecution. In the digital militias investigation, lawmakers from former President Jair Bolsonaro\u2019s circle have been imprisoned and his supporters\u2019 homes raided. Bolsonaro himself became a target of the investigation in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De Moraes\u2019 defenders have said his decisions, although extraordinary, are legally sound and necessary to purge social media of fake news as well as extinguish threats to Brazilian democracy \u2014 notoriously underscored by the Jan. 8, 2023, uprising in Brazil\u2019s capital that resembled the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Saturday, Musk \u2014 a self-declared free speech absolutist \u2014 wrote on X that the platform would lift all restrictions on blocked accounts and predicted that the move was likely to dry up revenue in Brazil and force the company to shutter its local office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut principles matter more than profit,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He later instructed users in Brazil to download a VPN to retain access if X was shut down and wrote that X would publish all of de Moraes\u2019 demands, claiming they violate Brazilian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese are the most draconian demands of any country on Earth!\u201d he later wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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