Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Demands More X Accounts Be Censored, Days After He’s Implicated in a Scandal

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice is demanding a fresh wave of censorship on X, even after he was accused of arbitrarily investigating President Bolsonaro supporters in the name of combating disinformation shortly after the country’s 2022 elections.Elon Musk’s X this week disclosed orders from Justice Alexandre de Moraes calling for the removal of nearly 20 accounts from the social media platform belonging to right-wing politicians, a pastor, and other Bolsonaro supporters.“This letter demands censorship of popular Brazilian accounts, including a pastor, a current Parliamentarian, and the wife of a former Parliamentarian,” X’s Global Government Affairs team said. “We believe the Brazilian people should know what is being asked of us.”Justice de Moraes sent two separate orders to X for the removal of seven and 12 accounts respectively, all which are linked to alleged illegal activity, according to the reports. Many of the accounts are outright pro-Bolsonaro or anti-Lula.“We have received further demands for censorship and for the personal account information of our users, impacting not just Brazilians but residents of the United States and Argentina,” X said after the second set of orders. Failure to comply with the mandate could mean the company will be fined nearly $10,000 per day. The court is also asking for the accounts’ access history and other related data.“This platform is being asked to censor content in Brazil where the censorship demands require us to violate Brazilian law,” X owner Elon Musk said in response. “That is not right.”This is Justice de Moraes’ latest jab at X and it’s self-proclaimed, free speech absolutist, Mr. Musk. Justice de Moraes placed Mr. Musk under investigation in April for allegedly spreading disinformation on X, and levied a $126,000 fine on the social media platform in June after it platform helped disclose a rape claim against a Brazilian politician, Athrur Lira.Mr. Musk, for his part, has taunted the Brazilian justice, claiming that he “brazenly and repeatedly” betrayed the people and the Constitution of Brazil.He has also called the judge a dictator at least twice, saying that he has “Lula on a leash” earlier this year. Justice de Moraes issued this order just a few days after six gigabytes of WhatsApp chats between one of his close advisors on the supreme court, Airton Viera, and some of his contemporaries were leaked to Folha de São Paulo.The bulk of the chats show that Mr. Viera was informally asking a forensic expert in the Superior Electoral Court, Eduardo Tagliaferro, for specific reports denouncing Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters. The requests to Mr. Tagliaferro were made by Mr. Viera on behalf of Mr. Moraes between August 2022 and May 2023, when the former resigned. Mr. Tagliaferro, who was also the head of the Special Consultancy to Combat Disinformation of the Superior Electoral Court at the time, helped Mr. Viera and Justice de Moraes use his committee as an unofficial and illegal investigative branch of the Supreme Court. Justice de Moraes denies any wrongdoing, claiming that these “proceedings were all official, normal, and properly documented in the inquiries and investigations” of the supreme court. Leaked images of the chats show Mr. Viera and Mr. Tagliaferro producing and retrieving the reports at Justice de Moraes’ discretion, ignoring official protocol. The reports, however, were edited to look formal. The chats show that Justice de Moraes’ often became irritated and angry when it took too long for him to receive the reports he requested, according to a report by Folha de São Paulo.Justice de Moraes also took no credit for ordering the reports, despite using them to investigate anyone he wished.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Demands More X Accounts Be Censored, Days After He’s Implicated in a Scandal

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