Elon Musk's Hybrid War Against Brazil

What's behind X's u-turn on compliance with Brazil's judiciary?

The following interview was conducted with Brian Mier on Radio Cultura do Nordeste - a commercial new radio station based in Caruaru, Pernambuco, on April 10, 2024. It has been translated to English and edited for readability. Listen to it here.

César Lucena: This case involving the owner of X, formerly Twitter, is gaining traction. Everyone knows about Elon Musk and the rulings of the bald Supreme Court Minister, Alexandre de Moraes. Do agree with the minister's decisions? Shed some light on this issue for us.

Brian Mier: Firstly, Elon Musk is known for always respecting local laws with X in various countries around the world, in terms of removing accounts that violate local laws. He does this without complaining in India, Russia, China, and in the European Union. And he has collaborated for over a year with the Brazilian government in this regard. What happened? Last month, the electric vehicle company BYD began construction on the first electric car factory in Brazil. BYD is surpassing Elon Musk's company, Tesla, worldwide. It is already the world’s largest electric car manufacturer. Furthermore, with the recent discoveries of lithium in Jequitinhonha Valley, Brazil has become the world’s fifth largest producer of this commodity, which is essential for use in electric car batteries. Musk was trying to buy a lithium company here in Brazil, but lost to the Chinese, and a little over a month after the inauguration of this factory construction, he made a 180-degree turn and decided that Brazil is violating the right of freedom of expression. Because of this, he collaborated with Michael Shellenberger, who owns a public relations company and is an author connected to the US far-right, to publicize private internal communications from his company. Using these so called “leaks”, they are collaborating with far-right actors worldwide, including groups like the Chega political party in Portugal, Vox in Spain, and Donald Trump's allies in the USA, on a campaign to defame and usurp the democratic rule of law in Brazil, using a false premise that investigating certain internet crimes represents a violation of free speech rights. However, the arguments they build are based on the US Constitution. They are not grounded in the Brazilian Constitution. Brazil has different laws. In the United States, Nazism is legal - you can form a Nazi political party - and various other types of hate speech are legal. There is no national electoral court and the electoral system is completely different. Nevertheless, since most people in the US don’t realize this, the end result is that it undermines the international credibility of the Brazilian government.

In March, 2024, BYD began transforming an abandoned Ford plant in Camaçari, Bahia into Brazil’s first electric car factory

Paulo Sobral: Brian, you seem to be suggesting that this guy's interest is financial - extremely economic. There's no freedom of expression story here? The far-right in Brazil is certainly taking advantage of this freedom of expression argument. But is this Musk attacking our legislation merely for economic purposes?

Brian Mier: I think there's a political element too. It's mainly economic, but he is also working to strengthen Donald Trump's campaign. Donald Trump is being investigated for similar crimes in the United States. However, since the legal structure is different, he is more protected from prosecution. It would be a bad example for Trump's campaign if Bolsonaro and his allies were arrested before this year’s US presidential elections.

César Lucena: So there's politics in the middle.

Paulo Sobral: There is!

César Lucena: Do you agree with these actions being taken by the Supreme Court in the name of Alexandre de Moraes?

Brian Mier: I support them, but it’s important to note that one of the tactics of the far right, especially in the United States where there is a cult of individualism, is to always individualize these processes. The legal processes underway represent the Brazilian rule of law. Alexandre de Moraes is just 1 of 11 Supreme Court justices. They are focusing all their energy on him as an individual, including through tools like memes - he really looks a little like a Bond villain so it's useful for them to use him in these memes - but the issue is the law. It's not about one person. It's the Brazilian law that needs to be respected. And Musk thinks that because Brazil is poorer than the US its State is weak and he can trample all over its laws...

César Lucena: He thinks he can disrespect us. There are rules, my friend, and they have to be respected.

Brian Mier: Did you see that yesterday Twitter Brazil filed a motion to become exempt from Brazilian law, that was rejected by the Supreme Court? He thinks he's so rich that he's above the law. If they manage to do what they want, to change Brazilian laws to alter the so-called right of freedom of expression, the police won't be able to collect personal data from pedophiles through social media anymore. This will make things easier for pedophiles. Everyone knows that whenever the police catch a suspected pedophile, they go straight to the social media companies like WhatsApp and order access to all their communications to help in the investigation.

César Lucena: What about Twitter, now called X? Would you say it’s losing influence?

Brian Mier: It's gotten weaker since Musk bought it. It has lost stock value and has lost advertising from companies that don't agree with his white supremacist and Zionist vision. But the problem is that he is using it as a weapon of hybrid warfare. He doesn't care. Because all this misinformation being spread in Brazil on Twitter gets shared on other social media networks like TikTok, WhatsApp, and Telegram. So it's still very dangerous despite the fact that it's getting weaker.

Paulo Sobral: You have shed light on something about the United States - the cult of the individual. Over there, lying is legal, spreading hate is legal - there's even a Nazi party. In Brazil, there's no such individualist cult of lying and hatred. The law here is different. You’ve shed light on this issue so that we can open our minds and better position ourselves in this discussion. I want to thank you for your observations and contributions.