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 fight for free speech, Musk’s X has hit the spot.”
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 free expression,” the Post wrote, “with removal orders and even arrest warrants often issued under seal and with little justification to support them.”
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. That lack of physical presence, in turn, prompted Mr. Moraes to order that X be blocked for all 220 million Brazilians — who, he said, could face fines of nearly $9,000 a day if they tried to circumvent the restriction . The post was reported.
“If that sounds authoritative, it is,” the paper said. “Whatever threat to democracy that Mr. Moraes’ account might have posed, the threat from a government official restricting the speech of 220 million people is greater.”
“Taken together with the choice of Mr. Moraes to freeze the assets of Internet provider Starlink, a isolated Mr. Musk’s company, this move connects Brazil not with the free world, but with the likes of 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.
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Image Source : nypost.com