Regardless of what you think of Musk, where's your outrage over this blatant authoritarianism?
- foreign companies that operate in Brazil must have a representative there.
- all constitutional rights are to be equally protected, meaning that there are no absolute rights, such as freedom of speech.
- websites have to comply with Brazilian regulations and judicial orders, including removing content that has been deemed illegal by the judiciary.
- the blocking of a non-compliant website is explicitly listed as a penalty under the law.
Right now, Brazil’s Supreme Court is made up of judges appointed by various presidents, and there are tons of members of the opposition in Parliament. Anything that the Court does is subject to these checks and balances, and eventual abuses, such as “banning VPNs”, are quickly overturned in most cases.
At the moment, the only thing that Musk might rightfully challenge in court is the blocking of Starlink’s assets — as there is clear dissent about the legality of this measure. In terms of content moderation and blocking, the letter and spirit of the law are being properly followed.