A top Brazilian judge has launched a criminal investigation into X boss Elon Musk.
The move comes amid a dispute between Musk and the judge, whom the billionaire accused of trampling free speech for demanding censorship on X.
Supreme Court President Alexandre de Moraes has now opened up a criminal probe into Musk after he blasted the judge as a tyrant and called for his removal.
“This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil,” Musk wrote on X.
“He should resign or be impeached.”
Moraes has been championed by Brazil’s Left for his extraordinary actions to crack down on “disinformation.”
Most of the judge’s efforts have fallen on right-wing allies of populist former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro has been accused of orchestrating a “coup” following his narrow election “loss” to socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Under Moraes, the corrupt Brazilian Supreme Court has censored, jailed, and raided the homes of prominent Bolsonaro backers.
The Brazilian government even seized Bolsonaro’s passport.
The Superior Electoral Tribunal, a separate court which Moraes runs, has barred Bolsonaro from running for office again.
The ban is over allegations that Bolsonaro was spreading “disinformation” about the country’s rigged election system.
Moraes ordered Musk to shutter accounts on X that posted so-called “disinformation.”
Musk refused, however, and said X would “publish everything demanded” by the judge.
He also warned that the judge’s “requests violate Brazilian law.”
Musk said the judge’s crackdown would probably shutter X in Brazil.
However, despite the threat, Musk asserts that “principles matter more than profit.”
“We are lifting all restrictions,” Musk warned.
“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.”
Moraes responded to Musk’s defiance by adding him to the court’s sweeping investigation into so-called “digital militias.”
The probe has targeted individuals, mostly on the right, for spreading “fake news” about the Supreme Court and the far-left government.
The judge also said Musk would be investigated for obstruction of justice and warned that non-compliance would cost X nearly $20,000 a day.
“The 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,” Moraes wrote Sunday.
During a live broadcast on Sunday, Bolsonaro, who was recently indicted by federal police for allegedly faking his vaccination records, said freedom in Brazil “is largely in [Musk’s] hands.”
“The action he’s taking, what he’s been saying and he hasn’t been intimidated and has said that he’s going to put forward this idea of fighting for freedom for our country.
“That’s good.”
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