On August 30th, the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) of Brazil suspended the operation of platform X, previously known as Twitter. The argument for the court decision is based on the fact that the company did not appoint a legal representative in the country, contrary to Brazilian laws. However, the response from Elon Musk, businessman and shareholder of the platform, went against court orders and posted images generated by AI to ridicule the judge responsible for the decision, Alexandre de Moraes, calling him a dictator.
The motivations for the legal clash date back to January 2023 when there was an attack on the National Congress in the capital of Brazil, Brasília D.F by supporters of the defeated candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who lost to candidate Luis Inácio da Silva. According to ongoing investigations, Musk’s platform shared fake news that helped Jair Bolsonaro and his team publicize the thesis that the results of the October 2022 presidential elections had been falsified. The consequences for non-compliance with legal determinations involve the payment of daily fines of R$100,000 for each profile (approximately US$50,000), in addition to additional sanctions against representatives of the company X and the impossibility of using the platform in Brazil.
Brazilian lawyers such as Dr. André Marsiglia and Dr. Paulo Peixoto claim that the notification made to Elon Musk is not valid, as the company’s CEO is, in fact, Linda Yaccarino. Likewise, it occurred outside the scope of international law, applicable in this circumstance. One of the points under debate also refers to the lack of laws that deal with judicial notification via social media, in addition to the punishment being extended to users. However, while the legal battle is ongoing, users in Brazil with a local IP will not have access to the platform. Likewise, those who attempt to access via IP from another country will suffer sanctions worth R$50,000 per day (approximately US$10,000).
According to Brazil´s president, Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, the world is not obliged to consent to Elon Musk’s right-wing political positions just because he is rich. In Brazil, the platform has around 40 million users, who access the platform at least once a month. Elon Musk recently started operating the company Starlink in the country, offering satellite internet access services. To avoid new economic setbacks, Starlink blocked access to X, but announced that it considered the measure unconstitutional.
The legal battle between Elon Musk and the STJ continues to stimulate important debates about the regulations of technology companies, social media platforms and national legislations, raising key questions about (dis)information, democracy and censorship.
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