Brazil confiscates billionaire Elon Musk's money to pay fine

Billionaire Musk and Judge Moraes (right)

The Brazilian Supreme Court said a judge ordered the transfer of approximately $3 million from companies owned by billionaire Elon Musk to pay fines for his social media platform X, which has now been suspended in the country.

Last month, Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the closure of the X social network in Brazil after Musk refused to delete dozens of right-wing accounts and failed to appoint new legal representatives in the country as requested.

The court said Moraes had "determined the transfer to the state treasury of 18.35 million real (82.6 billion VND) that was blocked in the accounts" of X and the satellite internet company Starlink, both owned by Musk.

Judge Moraes has repeatedly clashed with billionaire Musk after focusing on combating misinformation. He froze the assets of X and Starlink, a company that has operated in Brazil since 2022, to ensure payment of fines imposed on X for failing to comply with court orders.

Elon Musk is on his way to becoming the first trillionaire.

Musk, the owner of Tesla and SpaceX, reacted angrily, calling Moraes "a vicious dictator in the guise of a judge" and accusing him of "trying to undermine democracy in Brazil."

Social network X, formerly Twitter, has over 22 million users in Brazil. Moraes also ruled that those using "technological tricks" such as virtual private networks (VPNs) to access blocked websites could face fines of up to $9,000.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva supported the ban, while his far-right predecessor, former President Jair Bolsonaro, criticized Moraes.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/brazil-tich-thu-tien-cua-ti-phu-elon-musk-de-nop-phat-185240914080516703.htm