Despite The Washington Post’s often sharp criticism of Elon Musk, the paper’s editorial board criticized the Brazilian government for moving to ban X, the social media platform owned by the tech billionaire.
“The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is right to say that a Brazilian judge’s move to unilaterally ban X, which he owns, from operating in the country is an attack on online speech worldwide,” wrote The Post in an editorial titled. “In this free speech war, Musk’s Xi has marked the right position.”
A Brazilian judge has ordered the “immediate and complete suspension” of the social media platform until it complies with all court orders and pays existing fines.
Another Musk-led company, Starlink, is also facing a legal battle to stay alive in Brazil after a Brazilian Supreme Court judge ordered Starlink’s financial accounts in Brazil to be frozen.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ actions to shut down X have come at “a significant cost to freedom of expression,” the Post wrote, “with removal orders and even arrest warrants often issued under seal and with little justification to back them up.”
The newspaper noted, “The latest move against X is more of the same and just more: after X ignored court orders to block more than 140 accounts, the justice warned that he would arrest her legal representative in Brazil. ”
As a result, Musk’s team left the country, which allowed the situation to escalate further in Brazil. “This lack of physical presence, on the other hand, led Mr. Moraes to direct that X be blocked for all 220 million Brazilians — who, he said, could face fines of nearly $9,000 a day if they try to circumvent the restriction,” The Post reported.
“If that sounds authoritative, it is,” the paper said. “Whatever the threat to democracy that Mr. Far wanted Moraes could have possessed, the threat from a government official restricting the speech of 220 million people is greater.”
“Taken together with Mr. Moraes’ choice to freeze the assets of internet provider Starlink, a separately the company of Mr. And Musk, this move connects Brazil not with the free world, but with China and Russia,” writes The Post.
The paper’s defense of Musk comes as the billionaire has been a frequent target of criticism for the Post. The paper repeatedly attacked Musk as he sought to take ownership of then-Twitter in 2022.
Just last month, a Post reporter suggested that the Biden White House should censor “disinformation” from an interview Musk was about to do with former President Trump.
Fox Business’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
#Elon #Musk #Surprising #Defender #Banned #Brazil #Washington #Post
Image Source : nypost.com