In a move the flies in the face of his promise to uphold free speech, Elon Musk and X have capitulated in Brazil and agreed with a court order Musk said would entail “betraying our users.”
Musk and X engaged in a high-stakes face-off with Brazil after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that X must remove content the government didn’t like, as well as hand over information on up to 140 users. X refused to comply with the order, with Musk saying the order amounted to “unacceptable demands.”
“We’re not in the business of betraying our users,” Musk stated at the time, “especially not under pressure from a judiciary that disregards the principles of due process.”
In the days after Judge Moraes’ order, Musk was still decrying Brazil’s actions, saying the country was undermining free speech.
Despite the rhetoric, The New York Times is reporting that X has completely capitulated, giving in to the court’s demands. Specifically, X has removed the accounts that run afoul of the Brazilian government, has paid the fines levied against it, and has named a new company representative for its Brazil operations.
X is clearly trying to return its Brazil operations to normal and put the drama of the last few wees behind it.
“The goal is to regularize the company’s situation in Brazil,” said Sérgio Rosenthal, one of the new attorneys X hired to represent its interests in the country.
As The Times points out, despite X’s apparent efforts to resolve the situation legally, there was some evidence to suggest the company was trying to circumvent the court order, since X was once again accessible within Brazil. Despite how it appeared, X said its availability within the country was not intentional, and not meant as an effort to thwart Judge Moraes’ decision.
The explanation did not convince anyone within the government, with Brazil’s telecoms regulator Anatel saying it thought X’s actions were “a deliberate intention to disregard the Federal Supreme Court’s order.”
The Times reports that Judge Moraes levied a fine of $1 million per day and ordered new measures to block X once again.
Ultimately, however, the entire situation will forever be remembered as the time Musk went toe-to-toe with a Brazilian judge—and blinked.
from WebProNews https://ift.tt/imWqdJx
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