Thousands of demonstrators supporting Brazil's far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro expressed their gratitude to Elon Musk for refusing to removed accounts on the social network "X" which, according to the country's Supreme Court, spread disinformation in favor of their leader, Reuters reported.
"Brazil thanks Elon Musk," read a giant sign in English at the rally, which took place on Sunday off Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach.
Musk, who has declared himself a staunch defender of freedom of speech, is currently under investigation in connection with fake news spread by supporters of Bolsonaro. Musk said that the social network "X" will not comply with an order by Brazil's Supreme Court to remove certain accounts accused of spreading misinformation.
At the end of 2022, the billionaire who is the CEO of the companies "Tesla" and "SpaceX", also became the owner of the social network in question, known at the time as "Twitter".
Musk accused Judge Alexander de Moraes of suppressing free speech and violating Brazil's constitution, and also advised users of "X" to use VPNs or Virtual Private Networks if access to the Platform is suspended.
This became the occasion for Moraes to include Musk in the ongoing investigation and to open a new investigation for obstruction, abetting and criminal conspiracy.
Several speakers at yesterday's Copacabana rally praised Musk.
"Here you see people who love freedom, who will not surrender and will not kneel before dictators. People who are ready to give their lives for freedom," said Gustavo Guyer, a congressman who supports Bolsonaro.
For his part, the former president praised Musk for the "courage" before what he called censorship on the part of Moraes.
"He is a man who really defends true freedom for all of us," said Bolsonaro, who is under investigation for multiple crimes, from aiding efforts to overturn the results of the 2022 election to plotting a coup against his leftist successor. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Brazil is an important market for companies in the social media sector, Reuters notes. About 40 million Brazilians, which amount to 18% of the country's population, enter the "X" at least once a month, according to data from the market research company "Imarketer".