The tycoon Elon Musk accused Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday of blocking the bank accounts of his company Starlink as part of the court’s investigation into the spread of fake news on the social network X, which he also owns.
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Musk charged against the judge Alexandre de Moraesresponsible for the investigation, and called him a “criminal of the worst kind” and “dictator of Brazil” in a barrage of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.
A Supreme Court spokeswoman told EFE that she had no information on the judge’s action.
According to the G1 portal, the blocking of accounts of Starlink, a satellite internet service company with more than 215,000 active lines in Brazil, seeks to ensure payment of fines imposed on X.
The businessman’s accusations come a day after De Moraes ordered Musk to appoint a legal representative for X in Brazil within 24 hours, otherwise the social network’s activities in the country would be suspended.
Musk is being investigated for alleged crimes of obstruction of justice, criminal organization and incitement to crime, after he refused to comply with court orders to remove content from the social network.
X announced in mid-month that it was closing its office in Brazil because De Moraes had raised the possibility of imprisoning its legal representatives if they did not comply with court rulings on the deletion of profiles.
The magistrate is responsible for an investigation into the spread of fake news and, when he presided over the Superior Electoral Courtordered the removal of hundreds of posts on X that questioned the soundness of the Brazilian electoral system in the context of the 2022 elections.
In addition, De Moraes leads another investigation against the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) for his alleged participation in an attempted coup d’état after losing the elections before Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
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