Billionaire X owner Elon Musk signaled he may avoid traveling to countries without ironclad speech protections following the controversial arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France.
Musk, who called for Durov’s release after the Russian-born billionaire was jailed last weekend for allegedly facilitating illegal activity on Telegram, has himself clashed with authorities in Brazil and the European Union over content moderation on X.
“Maybe it’s wise for me to limit movement in places where free speech is constitutionally protected,” Musk said Thursday night in an X post.
Durov’s arrest has sparked a global debate over free speech online, with Musk at one point claiming his detention in Paris was a sign of “dangerous times”.
Some have raised the question of whether other prominent social media executives, such as Musk or Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, could similarly face personal liability for content published on their apps.
Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered X shut down in the country on Friday amid an ongoing war of words with Musk. Moraes also imposed fines on anyone who tried to access the site through VPNs or other means after the bans.
Brazil has also blocked bank accounts used by Musk-led satellite internet firm Starlink.
On Thursday night, X said it expected Brazilian authorities to force a shutdown of the platform “soon” after a war of words between Musk and Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes.
Brazil has blocked bank accounts used by Musk-led satellite internet firm Starlink.
The dispute escalated earlier this month when X withdrew her legal representative from Brazil after the judge threatened arrest.
Brazilian law requires social media companies to have a representative on the ground to handle government requests to take down content.
X has argued that Moraes is trying to censor political opponents.
X has argued that Moraes is trying to censor political opponents and has pledged to “publish all illegal requests of Judge de Moraes and all related court files in the interest of transparency”.
“We absolutely do not insist that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States,” the company said in a lengthy statement. before court order. “The basic issue at play here is that Judge de Moraes is asking us to violate Brazil’s own laws. We’re just not going to do that.”
Elsewhere, a senior official from the European Union – which has an active investigation into X’s content moderation practices that could result in massive fines – warned Musk earlier this month not to amplify “potentially harmful content”. before his interview with Donald Trump.
The warning caused an uproar in the US, with some accusing the EU of meddling in the upcoming presidential election.
In France, prosecutors have hit Durov with a range of charges related to terrorism, narcotics, collaboration, fraud, money laundering, receiving stolen goods and child pornography, and claim he has been uncooperative with investigations into his criminal activity. carried out on Telegram.
French President Emmanuel Macron has rejected critics, saying Durov’s arrest was not politically motivated and that France is committed to free speech.
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