Musk creates a profile against Justice Moraes, who calls other Justices to analyze X blocking

Brasil de Fato

Social media platform X, led by tech tycoon Elon Musk, has created a profile to attack Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes after he ruled to suspend the app in Brazil.

The profile ‘Alexander Files’ aims to expose confidential information from the Supreme Court taken by Moraes.

In one of these posts, the profile states that it will shed “light on the abuses committed by Alexandre de Moraes in the face of Brazilian law”. It also posts content claiming that there is censorship in Brazil and that censored people have no defense options.

Meanwhile, on Sunday (1) Alexandre de Moraes convened the 1st panel of the Supreme Court to analyze his decision to suspend the social media platform in Brazil. The virtual session began at midnight on Monday and will last 24 hours. Participants include Justices Carmem Lúcia, Luiz Fux, Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino, and Moraes himself.

The clash

Last Friday (30), Moraes ruled on the blocking of X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil, claiming that it had not respected the Court order to block the profiles of people involved in the January 8 coup attack.

He also said that the Brazilian Federal Police had evidence that “several people had intimidated agents involved in the investigations into the digital militias and coup attacks”.

The suspension was carried out gradually. By Saturday (31), the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel, in Portuguese) had informed internet providers about the court order.

The case was broadly discussed internationally. The New York Times highlighted the issue and stated throughout the article that Musk “has met a formidable challenge in Justice Moraes,” as well as mentioning other conflicts that the billionaire is fighting in the courts of other countries.

The Washington Post followed suit. The newspaper reported that “Musk is risking one of X’s biggest markets to defend Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters, who have begun spreading false narratives of electoral fraud ahead of the right-wing president’s bid for re-election in 2022.”

In France, Le Monde called Moraes’ decision “risky” but “predictable”. The Guardian stressed that the blocking is a direct consequence of non-compliance with the Court order and that “Elon Musk is out of control.”

Here in Brazil, a representative of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB, in Portuguese) considers that the Justice’s decision undermines the full defense. Solano Camargo, president of the OAB’s Privacy Commission, told CNN Brazil that “in this investigation, it’s only the Public Prosecutor’s Office or possibly a defendant who can appeal. Everyone else can’t appeal, X can’t appeal. So, it’s a situation in which the broad defense is undermined.”