Rio de Janeiro:

X owner Elon Musk on Sunday called for the resignation or removal of a Brazilian Supreme Court justice whom the billionaire entrepreneur accused of censorship for blocking accounts suspected of spreading disinformation.

“This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached,” Tesla and SpaceX boss Musk said of Alexandre de Moraes.

Beginning Saturday evening, Musk took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter which he purchased in 2022, to launch a series of attacks against the justice.

As a result of Moraes threatening to “cut off access” to the platform, “we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there,” Musk posted.

“But principles matter more than profit.” 

A divisive judicial figure — tyrannical to some and a fervent defender of democracy to others — Moraes is one of the 11 members on Brazil’s high court. He also presides over the country’s Superior Electoral Tribunal, or TSE.

Critics, now including Musk, have said Moraes is part of a sweeping crackdown against free speech in Brazil.

Moraes has spearheaded the battle against disinformation in Brazil. In recent years he has ordered the blocking of accounts of influential figures on social networks, most of them supporters of Jair Bolsonaro.

In 2023 the far-right former president was declared ineligible to run for office by the Moraes-led TSE, for disseminating false information about Brazil’s electoral system.

Bolsonaro is also being investigated over an attempted coup to prevent his 2022 electoral defeat against the current leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, after a crowd of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the headquarters of the country’s three branches of power in Brasilia.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Elon Musk is challenging a decision by a Supreme Court justice in Brazil who ordered his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to block certain accounts, and he called on Sunday for the judge’s resignation.

“This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached. Shame @Alexandre, shame,” Musk posted on X.

In an earlier post, Musk said X was lifting all the restrictions decided by Justice Alexandre de Moraes on certain undisclosed accounts in Brazil and would publish details of the order despite the judge’s prohibition on doing so.

“This judge has applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to X in Brazil,” Musk posted on Saturday evening. “As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit.”

Musk promised to legally challenge the order where possible.

Brazil’s solicitor general, Jorge Messias, criticized Musk’s decision and called for regulation of social media networks to prevent foreign platforms from violating Brazilian laws.

“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,” Messias said in a post on X.

X Corp had been “forced by court decisions” to block certain popular accounts in Brazil and was prohibited from giving details of the order or which judge issued it, the company said in a statement. It said X was threatened with daily fines if it failed to comply.

Musk said the blocking order was unconstitutional.

“The people of Brazil, regardless of their political beliefs, are entitled to freedom of speech, due process, and transparency from their own authorities,” he posted.

A spokesperson for the Supreme Court said the court had no comment on the matter for now.

Moraes, who is leading an investigation into an alleged coup attempt by former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, is one of the Supreme Court justices most active in combating online misinformation in Brazil.

Last year, Moraes also ordered an investigation into executives at social messaging platform Telegram and Alphabet’s Google, who were in charge of a campaign criticizing a proposed internet regulation bill.

The bill put the onus on internet companies, search engines and social messaging services to find and report illegal material, instead of leaving it to the courts, and to charge hefty fines for failures to do so.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)