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Tesla CEO Elon Musk<\/a> is to be investigated by a Brazilian Supreme Court justice over reports of disseminating fake news and alleged obstruction.<\/p>\n Justice Alexandre de Moraes wrote in his decision that the chief executive of X (formerly known as Twitter) began waging a public \u201cdisinformation campaign<\/a>\u201d regarding the actions of the Brazil Supreme Court. Musk reportedly continued to disagree with the verdict the following day, posting on social media that the company would cease complying with the court\u2019s orders to block certain accounts.<\/p>\n Citing de Moraes, AP reported<\/a> that the judge said: \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<\/p>\n Brazilian authorities have intensified their efforts to curb the spread of what they deem misinformation and hate speech on social media. X had at first complied with this directive. However, in a Saturday post, the company reiterated that Brazilians, \u201cregardless of their political beliefs, should enjoy freedom of speech.\u201d<\/p>\n X Corp. has been forced by court decisions to block certain popular accounts in Brazil. We have informed those accounts that we have taken this action.\u00a0<\/p>\n We do not know the reasons these blocking orders have been issued.\u00a0<\/p>\n We do not know which posts are alleged to violate the\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) April 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The crackdown on false information comes in the wake of riots that occurred in January in 2023, when thousands of supporters of Brazil\u2019s right-wing former President, Jair Bolsonaro, stormed government buildings in Bras\u00edlia.<\/p>\n The judge stated in a media release that if X does not comply with the order to block specific accounts, the company will incur a daily fine of 100,000 reais ($19,740).<\/p>\n Na @CNNBrasil<\/a> Alexandre de Moraes determina inclus\u00e3o de Elon Musk no inqu\u00e9rito das mil\u00edcias digitais por \u201cdolosa instrumentaliza\u00e7\u00e3o criminosa\u201d e abre inqu\u00e9rito para apurar sua eventual obstru\u00e7\u00e3o de justi\u00e7a. Decis\u00e3o aki. pic.twitter.com\/umBkI0xtGk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Caio Junqueira (@caiojunqueiraf) April 7, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Solicitor General Jorge Messias supported the move, writing on X: \u201cWe cannot live in a society in which billionaires domiciled abroad have control of social networks and put themselves in a position to violate the rule of law, failing to comply with court orders and threatening our authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00c9 urgente regulamentar as redes sociais. N\u00e3o podemos conviver em uma sociedade em que bilion\u00e1rios com domic\u00edlio no exterior tenham controle de redes sociais e se coloquem em condi\u00e7\u00f5es de violar o Estado de Direito, descumprindo ordens judiciais e amea\u00e7ando nossas autoridades. A\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Jorge Messias (@jorgemessiasagu) April 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In a Sunday (April 7) post on X, Musk accused Justice de Moraes of having \u201cbrazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil,\u201d arguing that he \u201cshould resign or be impeached.\u201d<\/p>\n Coming shortly, \ud835\udd4f will publish everything demanded by @Alexandre<\/a> and how those requests violate Brazilian law. <\/p>\n This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached.<\/p>\n Shame @Alexandre<\/a>, shame.<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 7, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Musk then told users they \u201ccan still access the X platform, download a virtual private network (VPN) app.\u201d<\/p>\n On Saturday, Musk stated that X would remove all restrictions, citing that the judge \u201chas applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to X in Brazil.\u201d Consequently, he mentioned, the company \u201cis likely to lose all its revenue in Brazil and may have to close our office there.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, de Moraes initiated an investigation into executives from the social messaging platform Telegram<\/a> and Alphabet\u2019s Google<\/a>, who led a campaign against a proposed internet regulation bill.<\/p>\n In December, the social media platform failed in its legal attempt to overturn a California law<\/a> aimed at regulating harmful content on social media platforms.<\/p>\n Featured image: Canva \/ Elon Musk<\/a> \/ The Royal Society<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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Why Elon Musk is being probed over \u2018fake news\u2019 by Brazil<\/h2>\n
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