Elon Musk stated on Tuesday that employees of X (previously Twitter) in Brazil needed to be evacuated to a secure area or “we will do a full data dump” after the country’s Supreme Court justice ordered an investigation into fake news charges.
“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,” Musk said in an X post.
“They have been told they will be arrested,” X owner claimed.
Musk’s post on X was in reaction to Brazilian politician Nikolas Ferreira, who challenged him to justify his charges against Judge de Moraes and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“Elon said that Alexandre has Lula on a leash and that he put his finger on the scale to elect him. As a member of the Brazilian Congress and representing millions of people, I ask you to give us more information. This will be crucial for the future of our country,” Ferreira wrote.
Elon Musk vs Brazil: The backstory
Musk has been publicly clashing with the Brazilian Supreme Court, particularly Judge de Moraes, over “censorship” charges.
On April 7, Musk demanded de Moraes’ departure, accusing him of censorship for blocking accounts suspected of spreading misinformation.
The billionaire entrepreneur accused de Moraes of having “brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached.”
The string of harsh comments against Brazilian justice began on Saturday evening, when Musk took to X and claimed, “We will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there.” Musk alleged that de Moraes was threatening to “cut off access” to the platform and said, “But principles matter more than profit.”
The Brazilian Supreme Court Justice opened an investigation into Musk on Sunday, accusing him of obstructing justice through his social media firm X, according to a court filing.