Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said his clash with Elon Musk over social network X shows that the world is not “obligated to put up with [the tech mogul]’s far-right anything goes [agenda] just because he is rich.”
The comments made during an interview with CNN Brasil come after Brazil‘s Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold a ban on X in the country on Monday. Lula’s government had on Friday ordered the ban after X refused to obey court orders to remove profiles that were considered to be spreading disinformation. Brazil also wanted X to name a local legal representative, which had not happened.
“The Brazilian justice system may have given an important signal that the world is not obliged to put up with Musk’s extreme right-wing anything goes [agenda] just because he is rich,” the Brazilian President said on Monday.
Brazil’s courts have been cracking down on misinformation and online hate speech, closing down numerous accounts in the process. Musk, who has called himself a “free speech absolutist,” claims its actions are censorship. He has openly aligned himself with far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro and has in recent days promoted posts advertising a pro-Bolsanaro rally aimed at impeaching Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
A few hours ago, Musk reshared a post that claims Brazilian senators have pledged to remove de Moraes, who oversaw the decision to uphold the X ban, writing, “Great.” He also amplified a post that quoted comments from billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman saying the move was “like China.”
Great https://t.co/mKDAO7cM9z
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2024
The Brazil ban is a huge blow to X, with an estimated 20 million accounts no longer active and a major market no longer accessible. With the platform still at war with advertisers who Musk claims colluded to boycott his platform, further reduction to revenue potential will be unwelcome.
Earlier in the week, Musk also exchanged social media pleasantries with Javier Milei after writing a post saying the right-wing populist Argentinian President “is doing an incredible job restoring Argentina to greatness.”
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