Elon Musk claimed Tuesday that Brazilian X employees are not safe and have been told they will be arrested, the latest development in an escalating feud between the billionaire, his social media firm and Brazilian authorities after the country’s Supreme Court ordered a probe into the alleged spread of fake news and misinformation on the platform.
“We need to get our employees in Brazil to a safe place or otherwise not in a position of responsibility,” Musk said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Musk claimed X employees “have been told they will be arrested,” but did not give further information or say where the warning came from.
The comments add to an escalating row over disinformation between Brazilian authorities, X and Musk after the billionaire ordered the company to reinstate accounts blocked by the government.
Musk also slammed Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as the “Dictator of Brazil,” days after de Moraes accused the billionaire of waging a “disinformation campaign” against the court and its actions.
Musk said “we will do a full data dump” of information on the Brazilian judge—who Brazil’s political right frequently criticize as overstepping his authority to censor free speech—once employees are in a safe place.
The court’s orders are not yet public though Musk on Sunday claimed de Moraes’ order levied “massive fines” and “threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to X in Brazil.”
Musk said Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet venture, will provide free internet for Brazilian schools if the government doesn’t honor existing contracts with the company. The government has reportedly threatened to cut ties with the company in its feud with Musk.
“As a result (of de Moraes’ action), we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there,” Musk said on Sunday. “But principles matter more than profit.”
We estimate Musk’s net worth is $193.8 billion. He purchased Twitter, now X, for $44 billion in 2022, and cofounded and runs a series of valuable companies including rocket venture SpaceX, electric carmaker Tesla, tunneling firm Boring Company and brain implant company Neuralink. His fortune makes him the third richest person on Earth, behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and French luxury goods giant Bernard Arnault.
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