Brazil just pulled the plug on X, Elon Musk’s social network. The decision came down hard on Friday after Elon refused to play by the rules set by a Brazilian judge. The country, home to over 200 million people, is now off-limits to what used to be Twitter.
Alexandre de Moraes was the judge in question. His reason? X didn’t have a legal representative in Brazil, a requirement that wasn’t met because Elon shut down the company’s local office just days earlier.
They’re shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil https://t.co/RasqcQ3ySM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2024
This followed Moraes’ threats of legal action against X for not taking down accounts that he claimed violated Brazilian laws. Elon didn’t take this lying down. He fired back, calling the judge’s orders illegal and promised to break their legal seal and publish them.
“Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” Elon said.
Meanwhile, Moraes went a step further. He warned that anyone in Brazil trying to access X through a virtual private network (VPN) would face a fine of nearly $9,000 per day.
Moraes also went after Elon’s other business interests in Brazil. He froze the finances of Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, aiming to collect $3 million in fines he had slapped on X.
Starlink, which has become quite popular in Brazil with over 250,000 customers, wasn’t about to roll over either. The company announced plans to fight the order and even hinted at making its service free in Brazil if it came to that.
Elon and Moraes have been at odds for months now. The former accuses the latter of censoring conservative voices under the guise of upholding the law.
On the flip side, Moraes accuses Elon of obstructing efforts to clean up Brazil’s internet, which he says is being polluted with disinformation, hate speech, and attacks on democracy.
Moraes called Elon an “outlaw” who wants to spread lies and keep voters away from the truth. This battle is now at the heart of the Tesla CEO’s mission to make X a haven for free speech, no matter the cost to the business.
Since April, the billionaire has been building a narrative around Moraes, portraying him as a top enemy of free speech. Elon seems to believe that public backlash against the ban will force Moraes to back down.
But this is a risky gamble. The longer X remains inaccessible in Brazil, the more it will hurt Elon’s business. Revenue, market share, and influence are all on the line.
