this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2024
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A standoff between Elon Musk and Brazil escalated on Sunday when a Supreme Court judge opened an inquiry into the billionaire after Musk said he would reactivate accounts on the social media platform X that the judge had ordered blocked.

Musk, the owner of X and a self-declared free speech absolutist, has challenged a decision by Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordering the blocking of certain accounts. He has said X, formerly known as Twitter, would lift all the restrictions because they were unconstitutional and called on Moraes to resign.

Neither Musk, X nor Brazilian authorities have disclosed which social media accounts were ordered blocked. X first posted about the order to block on Saturday but it was not immediately clear when the order was issued.

Moraes is investigating "digital militias" that have been accused of spreading fake news and hate messages during the government of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and is also leading an investigation into an alleged coup attempt by Bolsonaro.

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[–] NateNate60 -4 points 7 months ago (8 children)

I'm not a Musk fan by any longshot, but does anyone else think that the State having the power to order social media account bans is a bit... excessive?

[–] c10l 61 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Note that this is not “just banning someone’s account because they don’t like it”. These are people involved in criminal investigations. Shutting them down is meant to plug their criminal activities so society doesn’t get further damaged by them while the police and judiciary work on actually convicting them.

As an aside: I don’t know why you’re being downvoted. I disagree with your view but your question was asked respectfully and in good faith.

[–] NateNate60 0 points 7 months ago

I recognise that, but I am commenting that this power seems easily abusable.

[–] cedarmesa 40 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely not. This is an example of the state doing its job as intended. There is no such thing as an absolute right to free speech and never has been. Absolute free speech would end the human experiment. The real question here is if one human can hoard enough paper power tokens should they be more powerful than nations and unaccountable to nations laws. Musk is asserting the divine right of kings. This supreme court justice is asserting the just power of democracy.

[–] NateNate60 -1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It isn't about free speech. I am commenting that this power seems easily abusable.

[–] Feathercrown 2 points 7 months ago

All power is abusable. Limit that, but live with it.

[–] orgrinrt 30 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Not really. All extremists should have severely limited platforms to spread their hate in, and who else would see to that, if not democratically elected officials? Even if not democratically elected, I would personally trust almost any even remotely democratic government’s official to enforce something like that than to trust in some edgelord billionaire twat like Musk to do anything other than go the other way and signal boost that extremism instead.

And since I believe this, it would be hypocritical of me to criticize Brazil for this very thing, especially if a far-right populist like Bolsonaro (or anyone Musk likes for that matter) is involved.

But you might hold different views. And fair enough. But I firmly believe we should not give platforms to extremists or traitorous assholes, period. And should work to actively limit that, instead.

I.e I would not like to see, for example, ISIS leaders sharing their beheading videos on any social media platform. By that same logic, I would not like any other kind of extremism there either. I can’t just cherry-pick which kind of extremism I like to be limited and banned. If I believe that there exists entities or influences I would not like to spread, I should accept that those influences exist outside of my personally agreed views of what should be limited.

[–] rdca 8 points 7 months ago

Because they’re infringing the law of that country! In order to operate a business in any country any company must follow the local regulations! Elon Musk does not complain when the Saudi Government orders X to ban anyone for any reason, guess who backs Musk’s companies?

[–] stoly 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

So drug traffickers and child porn are fine for you?

[–] NateNate60 -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

No, they're not.I am commenting that this power is easily abusable.

[–] stoly 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You’re more concerned with the concept of authority than anything.

[–] NateNate60 0 points 7 months ago

No, I'm afraid not.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Yes.

But most people here think it's okay to censor people who disagree with them.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Yes, it's deeply weird that a judge would have that power. It's like forcing a grocery store to ban a customer who's been throwing tomatoes at people, rather than just locking up the tomato-thrower. Why would a judge have the power to punish someone who committed no crime and is just set-dress8ng for a criminal case?

Put another way: why is this judge ordering X to ban the accounts instead of ordering the account holders to delete their accounts?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Because they have fled Brazil so there is no way to force them to delete their accounts. Meanwhile twitter is a business with actual offices in Brazil so they should follow the court orders.