SpaceX and Tesla billionaire CEO Elon Musk has escalated his dispute with Brazil’s Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes by comparing him to Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort. The provocative move comes at a time when Musk’s social media platform has withdrawn its name from the case. X (formerly Twitter) decides to shut down operations in Brazil A bitter legal fight ensued.
In a tweet that quickly went viral, Musk shared side-by-side photos of Judge Moraes and Voldemort, with the caption, “The resemblance is uncanny. Alexander de Voldemort.”
The picture depicts Moraes wearing a black cloak similar to Voldemort’s, holding a wand.
The tweet comes amid a heated exchange between Musk and Moraes. On Saturday, Musk announced that X may shut down its operations in Brazil after the platform claimed Chief Justice Moraes had threatened to arrest one of its legal representatives.
Ironically, Musk has been compared to Voldemort – also known as He Who Must Not Be Named. After his takeover of Twitter (before its X rebranding), employees avoided mentioning him in emails or messages for fear of retribution. Instead, they referred to him as “the guy at the top” or “the new boss” in internal communications.
Musk vs. Moraes
According to Forbes, the controversy began in April when X’s global government affairs page announced that it Forced to block some popular accounts in Brazil Without knowing the reason behind the block orders or without knowing which posts violate Brazilian law.
Moraes had ordered the blocking as part of an investigation into a “digital militia” accused of spreading misinformation and divisive messages.
Musk, who describes himself as an unabashed supporter of free speech, reacted strongly, calling the legal orders “the most draconian demands any country can make” and demanding Moraes’ resignation.
The Tesla CEO claimed that Moraes threatened to impose heavy fines and terminate Brazilians’ access to X, which could result in the platform losing all revenue in the country and forcing it to close its Brazil office.
More recently, X’s government affairs page said Moraes had threatened to have one of his lawyers arrested and fined 20,000 reais (US$3,653) per day if he did not comply with the blocking orders.
Musk had vowed to reactivate the blocked accounts, leading Moraes to include him as well. Investigation into obstruction of justice and incitement to commit a crime.
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