Brazilian Conservative Party Sues Prohibition Against X, Conflict With Elon Musk Kian Memanas

Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes (left) and Elon Musk (photo: x @partidonovo30)

JAKARTA The conflict between billionaire Elon Musk and the Brazilian government is heating up after the Conservative Party, Partido Novo, filed a lawsuit against the ban imposed on platform X (formerly Twitter). This ban was imposed by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who has long clashed with Musk over censorship issues and hate speech in the country.

The ban comes under force by Moraes after X, which is Brazil's sixth-largest social media platform, did not comply with a court order to block a number of accounts accused of spreading "false news" and hate messages deemed threatening democracy. Moraes also ordered Starlink's asset freeze, a satellite internet service provider company Musk also owns, as collateral to pay the fine imposed on X.

Musk has denounced the decision, calling Moraes a "dictator" and accused him of closing "the number one source of truth in Brazil." In response, X has closed his office in Brazil and accused Moraes of censoring.

Partido Novo filed a request to lift the ban, arguing that Moraes' decision violated Brazil's constitution. They also questioned Starlink's asset freeze, arguing that X and Starlink are different entities and should not be involved in the same legal case.

"This is a matter of freedom of expression - we want X to return to normal in Brazil," said Jonathan Mariano, a federal prosecutor and candidate from Partido Novo for Rio de Janeiro City Council.

The petition will be handled by Supreme Court Judge Kassio Nunes Marques, who was appointed by former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Marques is expected to take the case to a wider panel of courts or immediately reject the request. Although no date has yet been set for this decision, Marques is expected to move quickly given the huge impact of Moraes' decision on Musk's companies.

The current President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, supports Moraes' decision to suspend X. Lula stated, "Just because someone has a lot of money, it doesn't mean he can break the law." Musk then responded by mocking Lula as Moraes' "pet dog".

Moraes' decision gained support from one of the Supreme Court's panels, although some legal experts argue that this kind of controversial issue should be debated by all 11 judges, not just half of them.

Vera Chemim, a constitutional lawyer based in Srypto Paulo, stated that freezing Starlink's account violated Brazilian law and should be overturned immediately. However, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Carlos Ayres Britto, disagreed, calling X and Starlink part of the same "economic source".

Partido Novo is not the only party against Moraes' decision. The Brazilian Lawyers Association also filed a request for the Supreme Court to cancel Moraes' order to impose a fine of 50,000 reais (around Rp. 137 million) per day to Brazilians who use VPN to access X. The association argues that the imposition of the fine violates constitutional principles related to the separation of power, self-defense rights, and fair legal proceedings.

Although this situation continues to develop, its impact on the political and legal landscape in Brazil, as well as on Musk's business ties in the country, is expected to be more significant in the coming days.