Feud between Musk, Brazilian Supreme Court justice intensifies amid threat of X shutdown

The feud between billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and a Brazilian Supreme Court justice over the manner in which social media platform X operates in the South American country continues to intensify.

As CNBC reports, Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the immediate appointment of a company legal representative inside the country under “penalty of suspension of activities,” a move that would follow on the heels of an order requiring “the freezing of all financial assets” in Brazil held by firms owned by Musk, who has made headlines for his endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

Origins of feud

The battle between Musk and Moraes began when X removed its Brazilian legal representative from the country, citing a threat of arrest of that individual, recently levied by the justice, according to the Associated Press.

Musk's decision to remove the X representative from the country stemmed from his disagreement with Moraes' assertion of power to block social media accounts accused of spreading supposed misinformation, something the American tech mogul likens to censorship.

The dispute comes amid preparations for municipal elections set for October, and under Brazilian law, social media platforms are required to maintain someone on staff capable of receiving and processing takedown orders issued by the government concerning supposed political misinformation.

As Reuters noted, the lion's share of the accounts Moraes wanted blocked are operated by supporters of conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro, prompting Musk to declare the judge to be “an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge.”

Though X had announced that it planned to cease operations and fire its staff in Brazil due to Moraes' “censorship orders,” representatives said that the service itself would remain open to users in the country.

Battle intensifies

After Moraes levied fines against X over alleged violations of Brazilian law, the judge reportedly ordered financial assets of all Musk-owned companies in the country to be frozen, including those related to SpaceX-owned Starlink.

The move, the judge said, was to “guarantee the payment of fines,” and came ahead of what many assumed would be a government-initiated suspension of X within the country.

In response, Musk ramped up his attacks on the justice, posting a doctored image in which he appeared to be sitting behind bars, with a caption that declared, “One day, @Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words.”

Musk's critique of Moraes also included a statement on X in which he opined, “The tyrant, @Alexandre, is dictator of Brazil, Lula is his lapdog,” a reference to President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in 2022.

What comes next?

Musk and Starlink executives have slammed the decision to freeze its finances in Brazil, noting, “This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied -- unconstitutionally -- against X. It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to address the matter legally.”

With regard to the possible suspension of X inside Brazil, as the Associated Press explains, the process could begin with Moraes notifying the country's telecommunications regulator, which would then order Internet service operators to suspend access to the platform.

The process would involve the prevention of conversion of the X domain name to an IP address as well as the blocking of the IP address of X's servers within Brazil, with Moraes also potentially notifying mobile app stores from removing X from their offerings, and considering that the country has roughly 171 million active social media users within its borders, it is not surprising that Musk views the stakes in this battle as very high indeed.