RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - A U.S. congressional committee has released confidential Brazilian court orders suspending accounts on social media platform billionaire owner Elon Musk.
The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee late Wednesday published a staff report revealing dozens of decisions by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordering X to suspend or remove about 150 user profiles from its platform in recent years.
The 541-page report is the product of subpoenas from the committee addressed to X. In his orders, De Moraes had prohibited X from making them public.
"To comply with its obligations under U.S. law, X Corp. responded to the committee," the company said in a statement about X on April 15.
The revelation comes amid a battle Musk has waged against De Moraes.
Musk, a self-described absolutist of free speech, had vowed to publish De Moraes' orders, which he equated with censorship. His crusade is being welcomed by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who say they are being targeted by political persecution and have found common cause with their ideological allies in the US.
De Moraes has overseen a five-year investigation into so-called "digital militias," which allegedly spread defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices. The investigation expanded to those who incited demonstrations across the country in an effort to overturn Bolsonaro's 2022 election loss. Those protests culminated in the January 8 uprising in the Brazilian capital, in which supporters of Bolsonaro stormed government buildings, including the Supreme Court, in an attempt to oust President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from office.
De Moraes' critics claim he has abused his powers and should not be allowed to unilaterally ban social media accounts, including those of democratically elected lawmakers. But most legal experts view his rash tactics as legally sound and furthermore justified by extraordinary circumstances of democracy being compromised. They note that his decisions have either been upheld by his fellow judges or have gone unchallenged.
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The secret orders revealed by the congressional committee were issued by both Brazil's Supreme Court and the Supreme Electoral Court, which De Moraes currently presides over.
The Supreme Court's press office declined to comment on the possible consequences of their release when contacted by The Associated Press.
"Musk is indeed a very innovative businessman; he innovated with electric cars, he innovated with rockets and now, through an intermediary, he has invented a new form of non-compliance with a court order," said Carlos Affonso, director of the nonprofit Institute of Technology and Society. "He said he would reveal the documents and he found someone to do it for him."
Affonso, also a professor of civil rights at Rio de Janeiro State University, said the orders are legal but merit discussion as users were not informed why their accounts were suspended and whether the action was taken by the platform or by the order of an court. The orders to X included in the report also rarely provide justification.
The Supreme Court's press service said in a statement Thursday afternoon that the orders contained no justifications, but said the company and people with suspended accounts could gain access by requesting the decisions from the court.
While Musk has repeatedly labeled De Moraes' orders as oppressive to the principles of "freedom of expression" and amounting to "aggressive censorship," the company under his ownership has bowed to government requests from around the world.
For example, last year X blocked posts critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and in February it blocked accounts and posts in India at the insistence of the country's government.
"The Indian government has issued executive orders requiring "In accordance with the orders, we will withhold them. accounts and posts in India alone; However, we disagree with these actions and believe that freedom of expression should extend to these posts."
Brazil is a key market for X and other social media platforms. According to market research group eMarketer, about 40 million Brazilians, or about 18% of the population, access X at least once a month.
X complied with suspension orders under the threat of high fines. De Moraes typically required compliance within two hours, and imposed a daily fine of 100,000 reais ($20,000) for non-compliance.
It is not clear whether the 150 suspended accounts represent the entirety of the suspended De Moraes. Until the committee's report, it was not known whether the total was a handful, several dozen or more. A number of the suspended accounts in the report have since been reactivated.
On April 6, Musk went to X to challenge De Moraes, questioning why he was "demanding so much censorship in Brazil." The next day, the tech mogul said he would no longer comply with court orders to block accounts - and that De Moraes should either resign or be ousted. He predicted that X could be shut down in Brazil and instructed Brazilians to use a VPN to maintain their access.
De Moraes quickly involved Musk in the ongoing investigation into digital militias and launched a separate investigation into whether Musk engaged in obstruction, criminal organization and sedition. On April 13, X's legal representative in Brazil wrote to the Moraes that it will comply with all court orders, according to the letter seen by the AP.
Affonso said the commission's release of De Moraes' orders was aimed less at Brazil than at US President Joe Biden's administration. The report cites Brazil "as a stark warning to Americans about the threats posed by government censorship here at home."
Terms like "censorship" and "free speech" have turned into political rallying cries for American conservatives at least since the 2016 presidential election, frustrated by the banning of right-wing commentators and high-profile Republican officials from Facebook and Twitter in their pre-Musk -campaign. version for breaking rules.
"The reason why the far right needs him (Musk) is because they need a platform, they need a place to promote themselves. And Elon Musk needs far-right politicians because they want to keep his platform protected from regulation," said David Nemer, a native of Brazil and professor at the University of Virginia who studies social media.
In the US, freedom of speech is a constitutional right that is much more tolerant than in other countries, including Brazil. Still, the publication of the report seemed to give Bolsonaro and his far-right supporters a boost.
Late Wednesday, shortly after the court orders were released, Bolsonaro concluded a speech at a public event by calling for a round of applause for Musk.
His audience followed eagerly.
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AP writer Barbara Ortutay contributed from San Francisco
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