Brazil cuts business ties with X and will not pay for any more advertising | After Elon Musk's criticism of the Supreme Court judge

The Brazilian government decided not to contract advertising campaigns in X again After the controversial criticism directed by businessman Elon Musk, owner of the social network, to the country's Supreme Court and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Sources at the Ministry of Communications confirmed this on Saturday The Lula administration will no longer invest more resources in promoting the actions of the executive on the platformAmidst the dispute with the businessman, also the owner of Tesla and SpaceX.

According to the Transparency Portal. The Brazilian president's government spent about 650,000 reais ($127,000) In institutional communication in X between 2023, the year he took power, and the first months of 2024.

This procedure applies to new advertising contracts, This is based on guidelines issued last February To avoid advertising actions on “portals, applications and content producers” that could “harm the image of institutions of executive power.”

Moreover, the Brazilian press reported on Saturday that X's representative in Brazil, lawyer Diego de Lima Gualda, left his position this weekaccording to a document in the Trade Council of São Paulo.

The dispute has its origins in A series of messages from Musk in which he accused Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of censoring, in his opinion, the blocking of X profiles for no apparent reason.. The businessman also expected that, in defense of freedom of expression, he would disobey the decisions issued in this regard, even if this led to financial fines or the closure of the platform in the South American country.

De Moraes responded by including him in ongoing investigations at the Supreme Court into the spread of fake news and attacks on democratic institutions. Unaware of failure, Musk continued his criticism this weekHe described the judge as a “dictator” and questioned the appointment of Lula's former personal lawyer, Cristiano Zanin, to a seat on the Supreme Court.

while, He condemned Lula on Wednesday by calling him “an entrepreneur who has never produced anything,” referring to MuskHe criticized justice's rulings, even said he was willing to violate them, and suggested he should use his wealth to “help preserve” the environment.

Musk's criticism of Brazil's justice system It has been interpreted in sectors of national politics as a form of support for the far right Led by former President Jair Bolsonaro, especially with the municipal elections approaching next October.

Yesterday, Musk met with Argentine President Javier Miley in Texas. “The Argentine President offered him cooperation in the struggle being conducted by the social network X in Brazil within the framework of the judicial and political struggle in that country.”The official statement issued by the Argentine government said. In addition to offering to mediate a case in another country, this clause is now outdated.