Musk Shines Spotlight on Brazil’s Dictatorship

SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seen during his visit at the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, on June 16, 2023 and (R) the new Twitter logo rebranded as X, pictured on a screen in Paris on July 24, 2023. Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

A concerted initiative backed by the Brazilian government is forcing high-tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Uber, Instagram, and WhatsApp to provide registration data and carry out unlawful censorship.

At the helm of this vast censorship scheme is Alexandre de Moraes, president of the Superior Electoral Court and a justice of the Supreme Federal Court.

Mr. Moraes is directly leading the effort in Brazil to stifle all political dissent, including imprisoning individuals for content shared on the web.

For example, in a recent statement, X (formerly Twitter) communicates that they “are threatened with daily fines if we fail to comply. We believe that such orders are not in accordance with … the Brazilian Federal Constitution, and we challenge the orders legally where possible.”

According to Michael Shellenberger, who investigated the issue:

“Moraes illegally demanded that Twitter reveal private information about Twitter users who used hashtags he considered inappropriate. He demanded access to Twitter’s internal data, violating the platform’s policy.

“He censored, on his own initiative and without any respect for due process, posts on Twitter by parliamentarians form the Brazilian Congress. And Moraes tried to turn Twitter’s content moderation politics into a weapon against supporters of then-president Jair Bolsonaro.”

X owner Elon Musk dared to ask Mr. Moraes why this would be happening. He reminded him, in another X message, that such “aggressive censorship appears to violate the law and will of the people of Brazil.”

For daring to ask these things, Mr. Moraes has now ordered the opening of an investigation by the federal police against Mr. Musk.

Mr. Moraes has also demanded the inclusion of Mr. Musk’s name in a “fake news” inquiry, alleging his “intentional criminal instrumentalization of the social network provider X, in connection with an inquiry which investigates ”misinformation” on social networks.

In the ruling, Mr. Moraes demands that X “not disobey any court order already issued.”

Brazil's Superior Electoral Court President Alexandre de Moraes holds documents during the fourth day of the trial of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro, accused of abuse of power and misinformation, in Brasilia on June 30, 2023. Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images

Instead of being intimidated by these authoritarian outbursts, Mr. Musk said in a post: “We are lifting all restrictions. This judge has applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to X in Brazil. As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit.”

He added that Mr. Moraes should resign or be impeached, saying he “brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil.”

However, instead of sharing a similar concern for the preservation of free speech, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has recently bestowed on Justice Mr. Moraes the nation’s greatest medal of honour, the Rio Branco Medal.

As noted by Mr. Shellenberger, “President Lula da Silva is participating in the push toward totalitarianism … What Lula and de Mr. Moraes are doing is an outrageous violation of Brazil’s Constitution and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.”

Built-Up Since the Election

This saga between Mr. Moraes and Mr. Musk is just the latest move in the Brazilian judge’s long-running campaign to control the narrative and suppress alternative voices in social media.

During the 2022 presidential campaign, Mr. Moraes ordered companies such as Telegram, Facebook, and Twitter to remove thousands of posts from social media platforms.

He also ordered the arrest of individuals without a fair trial for social media posts claimed to provide “misinformation.”

In addition to issuing these arbitrary arrests for the crime of opinion, Mr. Moraes ordered the confiscation of thousands of electronic devices as well as the freezing of numerous bank accounts.

He also ordered the nationwide suspension of Telegram for spreading “misinformation” and demanded Apple and Google block Telegram on their operating systems and withdraw the app from their digital stores in Brazil.

On Aug. 23, 2022, the federal police executed numerous search warrants in five states targeting businessmen who supported former President Jair Bolsonaro. By order of Mr. Moraes, their homes were raided, their social media accounts were suspended, and their bank accounts were frozen.

These individuals were then investigated over a couple of messages posted in their WhatsApp group in which some expressed their concerns about the return of President Lula, a socialist with a history of corruption.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (L) and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes attend a meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on April 18, 2023. Eraldo Peres/AP Photo

After knowing all these things, including that Justice Moraes as the head of the Supreme Electoral Court, was directly responsible for overseeing the latest presidential elections, Mr. Musk appears to have hit the nail on the head when he put forward this question.

“How did Alexandre de Moraes become the dictator of Brazil? He has Lula on a leash.”

When criticising Justice Alexandre de Moraes, Mr. Musk is basically fighting against judicial tyranny and speaking on behalf of millions of Brazilians who are now too afraid to express their feelings or to oppose the official narrative.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.