Has Elon Musk Gone Too Far?
After reports that tech billionaire Elon Musk will shut down X in Brazil, it’s time to ask ourselves has he gone too far?
Since the beginning of his venture with X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk has made it clear that it will run how he wants it to — Donald Trump’s account re-activated, suspending accounts and restricting user visibility.
Musk’s acquisition of X has been riddled with controversy, and now, he risks being banned by countries who want accounts spreading fake news to be blocked.
A top justice in the Brazilian Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, issued the ban until the company follows the country’s demands. As with any other social media platform, they’ve asked X to appoint a legal representative to handle all government notices and requests.
However, the ever-brazen Elon Musk has simply denied any wrongdoing and took to his platform to criticise the justice under a new account called the ‘Alexandre Files’. It, too, was taken down quickly.
But why does Brazil have an issue with X?
The Crime
The conflict had actually started in April, when judge de Moraes accused the former Twitter platform of spreading misinformation, inciting violence. This follows the unrest surrounding the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.
His policies were likened to far-right and populist views, which made himcontroversial. He ran to try to serve the lead position longer but lost to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the current president.
Bolsonaro’s supporters, however, weren’t happy. On 8 January 2023, they stormed the federal government building, calling for a coup d’état, and a series of protests ensued.
Six months later, Bolsonaro was banned from running for the presidency until 2030 after reports of him undermining the election process through his military influence as a former officer.
According to the ‘Digital Militias Inquiry,’ an ongoing investigation into misinformation online, Musk is accused of reactivating blocked accounts without court approval.
The X owner is no stranger to this; he previously reinstated former POTUS Donald Trump’s account after purchasing Twitter back in 2022.
The decision brought about chaos; the internet was divided on whether it was the right decision.
Critics argued he was showing his bias towards another controversial political figure, to which Musk replied he was simply allowing for freedom of speech.
The strange alliance of Elon Musk and Donald Trump
But the tech boss and the businessman are cut from similar cloth; Trump was once asked whether he’d appoint Musk to his cabinet.
“He’s a very smart guy,” Trump responded. “I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He’s a brilliant guy,” he said, responding to the Reuters reporter.
Despite the fact that they disliked each other several years ago, Musk joked that he’d be ‘willing to serve’ using a good-natured meme.
Whilst the possibility of Musk going into the White House is low, given he’s a full-time CEO of X, Tesla, Neuralink, and more, it shows that the two have become close.
Much closer than users are comfortable with.
Through their collaboration, the former tweeting platform has become imbalanced. Considering Musk never really stepped into political debates before, it’s surprising just how opinionated he’s become.
The once politically symmetrical platform nose-dived straight into propaganda and a whirlwind of false facts and conspiracy theories.
It’s only telling of what the future looks like for the freed bird’s network and what else the billionaire CEO will take into his grasp to support his own principles.
Big Impact
The ban has some groups on X hard; Brazil is known for having a large fan community, better known as a ‘stan’ community.
These include artists and sports stars such as Ariana Grande and Neymar fandoms.
Of course, many fans, though upset, have backed the ruling as necessary.
“Although I know [X] is a big part of the stan community, and it’s part of what I do with Ariana Grande Brasil, I know that Elon has defied the legal system and actions should be done.”
André Rodrigues, co-runner of Ariana Grande Brasil, speaking to NBC News
According to data by Statista, the South American nation has one of the largest usages on X, with an estimated 21 million users. They place sixth behind the USA, Japan, India, Indonesia, and the UK.
A huge number of users can be credited with both the creation and running of the stan accounts, their activity considered by many as crucial on an international level.
Moments before the platform became inaccessible, users posted farewell messages using tags like #MeuUltimoTweet (my final tweet), whilst others said their goodbyes to their favourite accounts.
The display was almost dystopian — how can a platform become so unusable to the most active users?
No news to share
Top news sites like The Washington Post and Reuters have looked at the effects on not just the fan groups, but also on journalism.
From the very beginning, Twitter has been used as a vessel to spread news online quickly.
With a click of a button, a headline can spread like wildfire; whether it’s on a mobile device or PC, news can be accessed anywhere by anyone. This feature posed a huge advantage to journalists.
Yet, since Musk’s takeover, the future of the journalism and news industry on X is looking blurry, and fewer and fewer trusted voices are keen to continue using the app.
“I have changed my habits on Twitter. I don’t really post my thoughts now because I think it has become not a very pleasurable experience.”
Gary Lineker, Match of the Day presenter, via The Independent.
For some publications in Brazil, the app was already considered “useless.”
“Something that always worked just stopped working,” said Natalia Viana, co-editor and founder of Agencia Publica.
“People would stop seeing us. We didn’t know exactly what worked and didn’t work. Even though it was still our main social network for conversion, the quality of the service declined quite a lot. So when Twitter was blocked, we were already frustrated with it.”
Speaking to The Reuters Institute, she expressed how difficult it was to conduct data investigations using the apps’ API since Musk had monetised the use of the documents ending all free access.
What’s next for Elon Musk and X?
It’s difficult to say what will happen with X next — for all his talk of supporting the peoples free speech, Musk has overseen the censoring of multiple accounts and types of content.
We’ve seen it be shut down in countries with active users, affecting the shared online culture of fandoms and even the work of respected journalists.
Even though Brazil has seen it become accessible, this seems only temporary as Musk defies court orders, escaping consequences for himself.
After reports that tech billionaire Elon Musk will shut down X in Brazil, it’s time to ask ourselves has he gone too far?
