this tyrant Voldemort is destroying their right to free speech

What does this guy think he is doing? Brazil's president asked after the dispute between billionaire Elon Musk and a judge of Brazil's Federal Supreme Court reached a new level and affected almost 200 million people.

– Just because this guy has a lot of money doesn't mean he can disrespect the law. He's an American citizen, not a citizen of the world. He can't keep insulting presidents, members of parliament, or the Supreme Court. Who does he think he is? – asks Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The conflict between X owner Elon Musk and a Brazilian judge began in April, when Brazilian Alexandre de Moraes called for the blocking of several accounts. Their owners were accused of inciting a coup, spreading disinformation and hate speech. Musk refused to comply with the decision and accused the judge of trying to censor.

“X is the most used news source in Brazil. People want to have access to this service, but this tyrant de Voldemort is destroying their right to free speech,” we read in Elon Musk's post on the X service. Voldemort is supposed to be Alexandre de Moraes.

The billionaire also closed the Brazilian office of website X and fired its employees, arguing that this would prevent the courts from holding them accountable.

– Brazilian legislation states that any platform that wants to operate in the country must comply with local law. This states that every company must have a legal representative in our country, comments Luiz Augusto Filizzola D'Urso, president of the cybercrime commission.

Faced with the refusal to appoint a new legal representative for the X site in Brazil and after several months of persistent refusal to pay more than three million dollars in fines for sabotaging the court's decision, Alexandre de Moraes made good on his threats.

READ ALSO: X Service Suspended in Brazil. Supreme Court Decision

“The operation of the X service throughout the country will be immediately, completely and integrally suspended until all court orders issued in this matter are complied with,” the statement reads.

In this way, on August 31, citizens of one of the largest and most populous countries in the world lost access to the platform. Elon Musk suggested that its users could bypass the ban and bypass the national servers, but such actions would result in a fine of over eight thousand dollars per day.

Judge Moraes also gave telecom giants Apple and Google five days to block access to the platform. Another Elon Musk company also involved in the dispute, Starlink, a satellite internet provider, has already refused to do so. Last week, Alexandre de Moraes froze its assets in Brazil and blocked transactions in the country to try to collect a fine imposed on X.

– When Elon Musk closes his office, saying he will not comply with court decisions, the justice system reacts. This is normal, this happens to every company that ignores court decisions – he comments Luiz Augusto Filizzola D'Urso.

Not everyone in Brazil shares this approach, and the Brazilian judge's actions have sparked widespread criticism in the country, with accusations that the court has gone too far in its fight against online disinformation and, instead of protecting democracy, has attacked freedom of speech.

“I don't use this service, but I think what happened is abuse. Alexandre de Moraes has no right to deprive citizens of the possibility of using this platform,” says Adeildo Junior, a taxi driver.

Service X announced that it would not comply with the demands of the Brazilian justice system, and Elon Musk emphasized that he would not bow to pressure from one judge.