Elon Musk Vs. Brazil: US House Judiciary Committee Sheds More Light Into Feud by Releasing Court Orders

The US House Judiciary Committee has now released the court orders from Brazil's highest electoral court and it shed more light on the court's feud with billionaire Elon Musk and his company, X, which used to be Twitter.

The previously sealed court orders asked X to suspend specific accounts on X for spreading fake news. Elon Musk vowed not to comply, prompting the Republican-held House Judiciary Committee to step in.

The staff report from the House Judiciary Committee revealed dozens of decisions by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, most of which ordered X to suspend or remove around 150 user profiles from its platform. The Brazil Supreme Court justice also prohibited X from making these court orders public, according to the report.

In the end, Musk and X were forced to comply with the Brazilian court's orders. This also came after calls in Brazil to regulate social media after Musk's non-compliance with the court orders.

Musk's defiance of Brazil's justice system was cheered on by the far right in Brazil, according to the Associated Press. They believe that they, as well as far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, are being targeted by political persecution.

Through these right-wing movements in Brazil, several "digital militias" have been formed, and they were central in planning last year's January 8 riot, where Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings, including the Supreme Court, the Legislature, and the Presidential Palace, in an effort to reinstate Bolsonaro to power.

Who Is the Brazil Supreme Court Justice That Elon Musk Was Feuding With?

Elon Musk has been feuding for the past few weeks with Brazil Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, who has overseen a five-year probe of so-called "digital militias" that were spreading fake news across the country. He set his sights on Musk as many of these "digital militias" were also on Twitter.

According to France 24, when de Moraes ordered Musk to suspend the Twitter profiles of right-wing advocates in Brazil, the South African billionaire hit back and called the justice a dictator and vowed to defy the judge's rulings blocking users found to be spreading disinformation, most of whom were Bolsonaro supporters.

However, de Moraes responded by ordering fines of $20,000 a day if these accounts remain active. He also placed Musk under investigation for charges including obstruction of justice and accused the billionaire of "criminal instrumentalization" of X, formerly Twitter.

Brazil Supreme Court Judge Launched Investigation Over Elon Musk Defiance

Earlier this month, Justice de Moraes also ordered to have Musk investigated over fake news and obstruction of justice, with right-wing accounts that were protected by Musk continuing to spread misinformation regarding the 2022 elections where Bolsonaro lost to Lula, though Bolsonaro did spread doubts about the result by claiming the elections were rigged without any evidence.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes stated that the X and Tesla CEO waged a public "disinformation campaign" regarding the top court's actions while also failing to comply with the court's orders to block certain accounts.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Elon Musk challenges Brazil's court order to block X accounts, lifts restrictions | WION World DNA