One of the world’s largest democracies has blocked the website formerly known as Twitter after accounts on the platform were accused of spreading hate speech and fake news.

Musk, a self-proclaimed champion of absolute freedom of expression, has since ceased his activities in Brazil and engaged in a war of words with the country’s leading lawmakers and politicians.

In an interview published on Monday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said his country should set an example for the rest of the world by taking action against Musk, the world’s richest person with a fortune of $239 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

“The world is not obliged to tolerate Musk’s far-right ideology just because he is rich,” Lula said in the interview with CNN Brasil.

Lula has made this position clear before. Last week he told local media: “Just because the guy has a lot of money doesn’t mean he can treat this (country) with disrespect.”

“He is a citizen of America, he is not a citizen of the world. He cannot continue to insult the presidents, the congressmen, the Senate, the Supreme Court … he must respect the decision of the Supreme Court.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Musk’s rebuttal to the ban, led by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, was sharp-tongued.

Following a court order to appoint a legal representative in Brazil, Musk posted an image apparently generated using artificial intelligence of a shaved-headed man in a black robe behind bars – apparently Moraes.

“One day, Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words,” Musk wrote next to the photo.

Musk is backed by some business heavyweights, most notably Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square.

Ackman, a billionaire entrepreneur who has invested in X, claimed the move to block the site and freeze the accounts of Musk-led rocket company Starlink had “put Brazil on a rapid path to becoming an uninvestable market.”

In the interview last week, Lula said his country would not be “afraid” of the Tesla CEO or his threats, adding: “This man must accept the rules of this country, and if this country has made a decision through the Supreme Court, he must accept it.”

X did not respond immediately to Assets’s Request for comment.

A global example

Yesterday, the five members of Brazil’s Supreme Court unanimously upheld the order and voted to fine those who try to access the site through a virtual private network (VPN).

The move reportedly affected around 20 million users in Brazil. Musk sharply criticized the government, calling it an “oppressive regime … that is afraid of people knowing the truth.”

This is not the first time that Musk, in his self-proclaimed pursuit of freedom of speech, has clashed with democratic bodies that accuse him of allowing disinformation to spread on the platform.

Earlier this year, the European Union charged X with failing to comply with social media laws, meaning the company could face a hefty fine under the organization’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

The DSA is a law designed to combat toxic and illegal online content and algorithms.

Musk was also able to refute these allegations. He posted on X: “The European Commission offered X an illegal secret deal: if we silently censor speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us.”

“The other platforms accepted the deal. X did not.”

While Lula hopes that Brazil’s firm stance against X could serve as inspiration for other countries, it remains to be seen whether they will follow his example and impose a complete ban on the platform.

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