The United States embassy in Brazil said this Friday (30) that it is monitoring the impasse between the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the social network X amid the threat by Minister Alexandre de Moraes to take the platform offline in the country.
There is a possibility that the judge will order the suspension of the network in Brazil after businessman Elon Musk stated that he would not comply with the decision to designate a new legal representative in the country to receive the Court’s official letters.
“The US Embassy is monitoring the situation between the Supreme Court and the X platform. We emphasize that freedom of expression is a fundamental pillar in a healthy democracy. Due to internal policy, we do not comment on court decisions or legal disputes,” the embassy’s press office said in a statement to People’s Gazette.
Musk responded to the embassy’s note and said that the diplomatic representation’s “expression of support” “is appreciated.”
“Indeed, without freedom of speech, the public cannot express their thoughts or know the truth of the situation, making it impossible to vote with accurate knowledge,” he said in a post on X.
Last Wednesday (28), Moraes ordered Musk to appoint a legal representative for X in Brazil within 24 hours – a deadline that expired on Thursday night (29). The platform said it considers the order to be illegal and will not comply with the decision.
“Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not enforce illegal orders in secret,” says a note published on the Global Government Affairs profile. OX considers the blocking of profiles of those investigated by the STF, ordered by Moraes, as “illegal” and intended to “censor political opponents” of the judge.
“We expect Minister Alexandre de Moraes to soon order the blocking of X in Brazil – simply because we did not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents,” the social network said.
The subpoena was sent via a post on the STF’s official profile on X itself, as the company ceased operations in the country on August 17. The deadline expired on Thursday night. In response to the minister, the social network claims that, when it tried to appeal the rulings, Moraes “threatened to arrest our legal representative in Brazil.”
This Friday (30), Lula echoed Moraes’ decision and stated that “if the Supreme Court made a decision for the citizen to comply with certain things, either he complies, or he will have to take another attitude. It is not because the guy has a lot of money that he can disrespect it”, he said in an interview with MaisPB radio, in João Pessoa, where he has an agenda throughout the day.
Lula also questioned what Musk “thinks he is” for allegedly offending members of politics and the Judiciary, and, in a harsh tone, demanded compliance with the STF’s determinations.
“If it’s not like that, this country will never be sovereign. This country is not a country that has a society with an inferiority complex, that because the guy is American he shouts and we get scared. This guy has to accept the rules of this country, and if this country made a decision through the Supreme Court, he has to abide by it. If it’s valid for me, it’s valid for him,” he pointed out.
The PT member also stated that the company, like any other foreign company operating in the country, needs to have legal representation as determined by law.
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