Courts

Spreading Fake News Could Mean International Lawsuit For Elon Musk

The decision to buy Twitter keeps getting more expensive.

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986715Quickly: Imagine the face of online disinformation. Did you picture Elon Musk? If so, you’ll probably appreciate this Brazilian Supreme Court justice’s opinion. From HuffPost:

A crusading Brazilian Supreme Court justice included Elon Musk as a target in an ongoing investigation over the dissemination of fake news and opened a separate investigation late Sunday into the executive for alleged obstruction.

In his decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes noted that Musk on Saturday began waging a public “disinformation campaign” regarding the top court’s actions, and that Musk continued the following day — most notably with comments that his social media company X would cease to comply with the court’s orders to block certain accounts.

“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime, the public threat of disobedience of court orders and future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespect the sovereignty of Brazil,” de Moraes wrote.

Hard to get the guy to respect Brazilian authority when he frequently stomps on American laws, but you’ve got to respect the attempt to hold a billionaire accountable.

Given that Musk’s “free speech absolutism” looks a lot like allowing Twitter to become Parler 2.0, you should expect to see all sorts of the anti-intellectualism that is traditionally associated with right-wing politics: flat Earther-ism, vaccine efficacy denial, conspiracy theories about cell phone towers being the actual cause of COVID-19, and the like. As the misinformation campaigns continue, you should expect to see more suits trying to tamper down on them. Brazil shows that if the United States isn’t willing to do the work to stop these campaigns, other countries may step up to police them.

Crusading Brazil Supreme Court Justice Orders Investigation Of Elon Musk [HuffPost]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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