‘They will be arrested’: Elon Musk says X employees in Brazil are threatened with arrest by the govt

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that X, formerly known as Twitter, employees in Brazil are being threatened that they will be arrested. He stated that they needed to be taken to a “safe place”. This comes at a time when Musk is facing a legal investigation from Brazilian Supreme Court judge Justice Alexandre de Moraes regarding the dissemination of fake news and alleged obstruction of justice.

The debacle started when the government asked the platform to block some far-right accounts. A court order was issued to block these accounts as a part of the investigation into former president Jair Bolsonaro who is accused of making attempts to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat.

Notably, neither Musk nor the Brazilian government revealed which accounts were asked to block. The court order has also barred X from revealing the details of the said accounts. In case of failure to comply, a fine of £16,000 a day is also announced. Amid the stand-off, Elon Musk has even called for Moraes to resign or be impeached.

The billionaire claimed de Moraes “has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached." He even alleged, “He (de Moraes) demanded that X suspend accounts of people who raised corruption concerns while insisting that X pretend the suspension was for violating our terms of service.”

He demanded that 𝕏 suspend accounts of people who raised corruption concerns while insisting that 𝕏 pretend the suspension was for violating our terms of service!

We obey the laws of countries even if we disagree with them, but this required violating the laws of Brazil.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024

Now, Musk has revealed that Moraes is after its company employees in Brazil. On X, Musk posted, “We need to get our employees in Brazil to a safe place or otherwise not in a position of responsibility, then we will do a full data dump. They have been told they will be arrested.”

They have been told they will be arrested

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024

Musk described the action as “aggressive censorship”. He wrote, “We will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit.”

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