(30 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 30 August 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) David Biller, Associated Press Brazil News Director:
"A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has ordered the suspension of Elon Musk’s social media platform X nationwide, escalating a feud between the two men over freedom of speech, far-right accounts, and misinformation. Justice Alexandre de Moraes warned Musk on Wednesday night that failure to name a local legal representative could mean that his platform was blocked. The company hasn’t had a representative since earlier this month. De Moraes is basing his decision on local law requiring foreign companies to have a representative in order to receive notification of court decisions, and also to take any requisite legal action. De Moraes’ defenders have said that his decisions targeting X have been lawful and that they’ve served to protect democracy. Musk, on the other hand, has characterized De Moraes as an authoritarian censor, and his claims have been amplified by Brazil’s political right. Brazil is an important market for X, with tens of millions of regular users, and also a potentially huge growth market for Elon Musk’s satellite company, Starlink. And now Starlink is also in De Moraes’ crosshairs. It said that this week the judge froze its accounts, apparently in an attempt to get it to pay for X’s fines."
STORYLINE:
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Friday ordered the suspension of Elon Musk’s social media giant X in Brazil after the tech billionaire refused to name a legal representative in the country, according to a copy of the decision seen by The Associated Press.
The move further escalates the months-long feud between the two men over free speech, far-right accounts, and misinformation.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes had warned Musk on Wednesday night that X could be blocked in Brazil if he failed to comply with his order to name a representative, and established a 24-hour deadline.
The company hasn’t had a representative in the country since earlier this month.
De Moraes said the platform would remain blocked until it complies.
Brazil is an important market for X, which has struggled with the loss of advertisers since Musk purchased the former Twitter in 2022.
Market research group Emarketer says some 40 million Brazilians, roughly one-fifth of the population, access X at least once per month.
X had posted on its official Global Government Affairs page late Thursday that it expected X to be shut down by de Moraes, “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
“When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts,” the company wrote. “Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him.”
X has clashed with de Moraes over its reluctance to comply with orders to block users.
Accounts that the platform previously has shut down on Brazilian orders include lawmakers affiliated with former President Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing party and activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy.
Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”, has repeatedly claimed the justice’s actions amount to censorship, and his argument has been echoed by Brazil’s political right.
He has often insulted de Moraes on his platform, characterizing him as a dictator and tyrant.
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