X users in Brazil will once again be able to access their accounts following the company’s decision to comply with the demands of left-wing Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who owner Elon Musk previously called a “dictator.”
Moraes had ordered X to be banned on August 30 via a 51-page decision after the company’s repeated refusal to comply with previous demands. X announced just weeks before that it was shutting down its offices in the country to protect staffers from de Moraes’ tyrannical decrees.
Calhoun: A Statesman f...
Best Price: $14.11
Buy New $22.95
(as of 02:27 UTC - Details)
Following the 2022 ouster of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was a strong ally of Donald Trump, Moraes has essentially been ruling the country by fiat. Socialist president Lula de Silva, 78, has likewise been re-positioning it globally away from the West and towards China and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) alliance.
News of Moraes’ decision to unblock the company came Tuesday this week in a statement from the Supreme Court that said X had paid fines totaling $5.1 million. X also agreed to ban certain accounts the government has deemed to have “disseminated false information.” It also said it will appoint a local representative in the country.
The backtracking by X has not been mentioned by Musk, who repeatedly threatened to release damming information on Moraes, who has justified his oppressive action by claiming he is “defending democracy.”
We willl begin publishing the long list of @Alexandre’s crimes, along with the specific Brazilian laws that he broke tomorrow.
Obviously, he does not need to abide by US law, but he does need to abide by his own country’s laws.
He is a dictator and a fraud, not a justice. https://t.co/m93B1r0v98
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 31, 2024
The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries https://t.co/VgYPRJMXJv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2024
X’s Global Government Affairs account did issue a statement, however, though it was criticized strongly by users for “caving in” and “bending the knee” to an oppressive regime.
