Elon Musk under inquiry after defying Brazil judge's 'unconstitutional' order to block certain X accounts

A Brazilian judge on Sunday (Apr 7) opened an inquiry into Elon Musk over charges of obstruction of justice. The inquiry as per a court document involves Musk's social media company X, formerly Twitter.

This comes after Musk challenged a decision by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, ordering X to block certain accounts.

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"X shall refrain from disobeying any court order already issued, including performing any profile reactivation that has been blocked by this Supreme Court," said Justice Moraes.

Musk and X face a fine amounting to 100,000 reais ($19,740) per day, if they fail to block certain accounts. 

Elon Musk challenges judge's order 

Challenging the Supreme Court justice's order, Musk earlier alleged that the judge had "betrayed the constitution and the people of Brazil."

In a post on X, calling for Moraes' resignation, Musk said, "This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached. Shame @Alexandre, shame."

Previously, on Saturday (Apr 6), Musk alleged that "this judge has applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to X in Brazil." 

"As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit," he added. 

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In another post, Musk called the Justice's order the "most Draconian demands of any country on Earth!".

He also advised people to use a virtual private network (VPN) to access X in Brazil.

Musk, as per Reuters, calling the blocking order "unconstitutional" has also promised to legally challenge the order where possible. 

"The people of Brazil, regardless of their political beliefs, are entitled to freedom of speech, due process, and transparency from their own authorities," he posted.

(With inputs from agencies)