House committee backs Musk in Supreme Court feud

The House Public Security Committee on Tuesday approved a motion to support billionaire Elon Musk for allegedly “exposing and confronting the political and unfounded censorship” imposed by Brazil’s judiciary.

In recent days, Mr. Musk joined a campaign led by the Brazilian far-right to characterize Brazil as a dictatorship. As a result, a Supreme Court justice decided to include him in an ongoing investigation into “digital militias” for obstruction of justice, incitement to commit crimes, and the “willful criminal instrumentalization” of X, the social network he owns, formerly known as Twitter.

Mr. Musk has long been seen as an ally of Brazil’s far-right, with several lawmakers and pundits celebrating his acquisition of Twitter in 2022. At the time, they used the hashtag “BolsoMusk,” a reference to his partnership with then-President Jair Bolsonaro.

The motion was authored by Congressman Colonel Meira, a retired police officer from the northeastern state of Pernambuco and a member of the so-called “bullet caucus,” which focuses on public security issues. The text celebrates that Mr. Musk “asked Justice Moraes directly about censorship.” 

Last Saturday, Mr. Musk addressed Justice Moraes directly on his own platform, asking the justice why he was “demanding so much censorship in Brazil.” 

The motion passed without a vote, but left-wing Congressman Glauber Braga cast a symbolic vote against the bill.

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