“Democracy in Brazil is dying in broad daylight”, says WSJ

O Wall Street Journal published an article in which he said that “Brazilian democracy is dying in broad daylight”. The text refers to the clash between the billionaire and owner of X (former Twitter), Elon Musk, and the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, in the scandal that has been called “Twitter Files Brazil”.

The text also cites the interference of the STF and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to impose regulation on social networks.

Titled “Elon Musk resists Brazilian censorship”, the article was published on Sunday (14) and is signed by columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady.

“This issue has nothing to do with containing the dominance of big technology companies, reducing risks to democracy or even protecting children from social media. This is a fight between a politicized Supreme Court and critics of President Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva. This demonstrates that Brazil no longer has an independent judiciary. The sad reality is that your democracy is dying in the light of day”, says an excerpt from the article after citing Musk’s inclusion in the STF investigation investigating the actions of an alleged digital militia.

According to the article, the STF “wants to silence opinion makers” who disagree with the Court’s decisions and who have a wide reach through publications on Twitter.

“Many Brazilians, along with Musk, think this is undemocratic. They think that the minister of (Alexandre) Moraes [do STF] he is acting like a tyrant who believes that his side owns the truth. They fear that a court with so much arbitrary power represents a much greater danger to Brazilian freedom than any independent voice, even extremist ones”, says another excerpt from the article.

The text also cites freedom of expression as a principle defended in the Federal Constitution and says that the Lula government has acted to intimidate opponents.

The article also mentions the return of Lula (PT) to the Presidency after starring in “the biggest corruption and bribery scandal in the history of the West”, in reference to the Mensalão and Petrolão scandals.

After mentioning the election of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), in 2018, and the persecution that followed his government, the newspaper says that “Bolsonaro’s main transgression was his promise to protect private property, restore the law and order and challenge identity politics.”

“Bolsonaro was far from being a defender of free markets and his language was often reckless, however, his government restored fiscal health, deregulated parts of the economy and made business less costly through digitalization”, says another excerpt of the text.

The article also recalls the judiciary’s actions to annul Lula’s conviction and politically rehabilitate him to contest the 2022 elections against Bolsonaro.

“Moraes had been silencing Lula’s opponents for months, inviting Brazilians to denounce their neighbors. But as the campaign [eleitoral] Intensified, things got worse. The electoral court (TSE) increasingly instructed platforms to block speech, ordering YouTube to demonetize four Brazilian channels with large numbers of followers. It also passed a resolution granting itself the power to police the internet. The court instructed Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube to remove content not approved by the Court. In recent years, Lula’s critics have had their bank accounts frozen and their financial records subpoenaed. Some fled into exile, where they discovered their passports had been cancelled. Questioning the legitimacy of Lula’s electoral victory has led some to prison. The common denominator has been the lack of due process”, highlights the article.