Additional Coverage:
- Elon Musk’s battle for free speech is getting expensive (newsbreak.com)
In a significant financial blow to Elon Musk, Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the over $3 million seizure from his companies, X and SpaceX, on Friday. This comes as part of ongoing penalties due to the social media platform’s non-compliance with court orders. After taking the funds—$1.3 million from X and $2 million from SpaceX’s Starlink—the court unfroze the company accounts.
These fines, attributed to X’s refusal to designate a legal representative to handle governmental requests for content removal, targeted accounts linked to misinformation efforts supporting ex-President Jair Bolsonaro. The Supreme Court’s statement clarified that, upon full payment, Justice Alexandre de Moraes saw no necessity to keep the accounts frozen.
Musk’s stance on free speech has faced financial ramifications, despite his mixed track record in complying with content restrictions from authoritarian governments like Turkey and India. In Brazil, de Moraes adopted an aggressive approach against disinformation, sparking criticism even among Musk’s reluctant supporters.
Far-right factions, which de Moraes aims to restrict, have challenged Bolsonaro’s 2022 election defeat and supported the violent mob that attacked Brazil’s Congress, seeking a military coup. While Brazil’s constitution, like that of the US, protects speech, it permits broader restrictions than American law.
Musk argues that de Moraes’ actions equate to censorship as those targeted haven’t been convicted. He went as far as mocking the judge online, likening him to Voldemort and asserting legal actions against him.
The link between X’s legal troubles and SpaceX’s involvement is tenuous but clear. De Moraes’ moves prompted Musk to shut X’s Brazil office after threats to arrest its representative. Following an order to ban X in Brazil, Starlink initially resisted but later complied under pressure, blocking access through their satellites.
Critics, including Brazilian jurist Lênio Streck, questioned the logic of penalizing Starlink for X’s actions, given their separate operational statuses but common ownership. According to Streck, this consolidation of responsibility is unprecedented and Starlink had no influence over X’s decisions.
Representatives for both X and SpaceX have yet to comment on the situation.
For further details, refer to the original Business Insider article.
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- Elon Musk’s battle for free speech is getting expensive (newsbreak.com)