Brazil to investigate Musk after pushback over order to ban X accounts

[KARAH RUCKER]

THERE’S A BATTLE BREWING BETWEEN BRAZIL AND TECH BILLIONAIRES.

FRONT AND CENTER – IS ELON MUSK.

BRAZIL’S ATTORNEY GENERAL CALLED FOR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES TO BE REGULATED BY THE GOVERNMENT –

AFTER X OWNER ELON MUSK PUSHED BACK AGAINST A COURT ORDER DEMANDING X TO BLOCK SOME ACCOUNTS.

WE DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF ACCOUNTS BRAZIL WANTED BLOCKED –

AS THOSE WERE SEALED BY THE COURT AND X ISN’T ALLOWED TO SAY.

THIS IS JUST THE LATEST EXAMPLE OF A COUNTRY REQUIRING X TO BLOCK OR CENSOR CERTAIN PROFILES AND POSTS.

AND WHILE X POSTED THEY WERE FORCED TO BLOCK ACCOUNTS –

ELON MUSK SAYS HE’S WORKING TO CHANGE THAT.

IN A POST BY X, THE PLATFORM SAID THEY HAD “BEEN FORCED BY COURT DECISIONS TO BLOCK CERTAIN POPULAR ACCOUNTS IN BRAZIL…

WE DO NOT KNOW THE REASONS THESE BLOCKING ORDERS HAVE BEEN ISSUED. 

BUT ARE “THREATENED WITH DAILY FINES IF WE FAIL TO COMPLY.”

“THE PEOPLE OF BRAZIL REGARDLESS OF THEIR POLITICAL BELIEFS, ARE ENTITLED TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH.”

THE OWNER OF X – ISN’T HAPPY ABOUT IT –

AND EXPRESSED THAT VERY CLEARLY ON X.

MUSK CALLED FOR THE JUDGE’S REMOVAL –

WANTS TO PUBLISH THE COURT ORDER –

AND UNBLOCK THE ACCOUNTS. 

HE POSTED OVER THE WEEKEND THE ACCOUNTS WERE UNBLOCKED.

– EVEN IF IT MEANS HIS PLATFORM GETS PULLED FROM THE COUNTRY.

MUSK SAID “PRINCIPLES MATTER MORE THAN PROFIT.”

THE JUDGE HAS NOW OPENED AN INVESTIGATION INTO MUSK – SAYING HE IS WAGING A PUBLIC “DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN” AGAINST BRAZIL.

BRAZIL’S ATTORNEY GENERAL WROTE –

“We 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.”

IN OTHER COUNTRIES – MUSK HAS FACED SIMILAR ISSUES. 

GOVERNMENTS OF INDIA AND TURKEY THREATENING TO REMOVE PUBLIC ACCESS TO X IF IT DOESN’T COMPLY WITH THEIR CENSORSHIP REQUESTS.

MUSK POSTED INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW X USERS IN BRAZIL CAN DOWNLOAD A VPN TO STILL NAVIGATE THE SOCIAL MEDIA SITE – IN THE CASE BRAZIL DOES SHUT X DOWN.