Cartoons

Battles on social media

Since the dawn of social media and its massive acceptance and uptake in Brazil, the country has become known for giving the world some fascinating — and downright unusual — online spats.

The list includes far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro versus Greta Thunberg, Mr. Bolsonaro’s former economy minister against the French First Lady, right-wing Brazilians versus Leonardo DiCaprio, and even fans of footballer Neymar against a British Harry Potter actor.

And of course, there are the fights between Brazilian fans of Taylor Swift and just about anyone that gets in their way.

In recent days, however, the latest dispute monopolizing headlines in Brazil has billionaire and X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk facing off against Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Mr. Musk joined a far-right campaign to portray Brazil as a “dictatorship” under the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a conspiracy theory seen as an effort to debunk investigations into a coup attempt launched by Mr. Bolsonaro after losing the 2022 election.

Justice Moraes decided to place Mr. Musk under investigation for obstruction of justice, inciting crime, and the “willful criminal instrumentalization” of social media X, which Mr. Musk bought two years ago.

Mr. Musk promised to lift all restrictions on accounts banned in Brazil by the courts for publishing anti-democratic content. “As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there,” Mr. Musk posted. “But principles matter more than profit.”

Check out the creation of this cartoon on The Brazilian Report’s TikTok account (@brazilianreport).