Elon Musk threw a dance in Brazil and won – 04/10/2024 – Ronaldo Lemos

In recent days, Elon Musk has thrown a banana peel at Brazilians. The Judiciary, the Executive, the Legislature, the press and civil society crossed the street just to step and slip on it. There is a fundamental rule of the internet that says: “Never fight with a pig. Everyone will get dirty, but the pig likes it.” Musk not only enjoyed the joke, but thanks to it he achieved politically everything he wanted in record time.

Our institutions should have solemnly ignored Musk’s threats at By responding to tweets with hypothetical threats, through hundreds of articles in the press, statements by authorities, bravado and spectacular procedural moves, Brazil transferred the debate from the STF (Supreme Federal Court) to the internet court. And in that court Musk is king.

Let’s look at the damage. In four days, with his tweets, he managed to dismiss the rapporteur of the Fake News bill, deputy Orlando Silva, summarily. A rare move in Congress, especially so abruptly. Musk also got the Speaker of the House to work for him, creating a special commission to write a new internet law in the country in 40 days (what could go wrong in such a hurry?).

He also put the Supreme Court to work for him. With a handful of tweets, the STF made constitutionality actions regarding internet regulation that had been on hold for months. He also managed to get the Supreme Court to personally include Musk as being investigated in the inquiry into attacks on democracy. The spotlight shone brightly on him, just the way he likes it. Finally, he managed to electrify an entire political current that had been crestfallen in recent months. He played like a master, like a video game boss.

This indicates that the press, civil society and the country’s institutions have learned nothing in the last eight years. This political action protocol has happened so many times. Even so, when Pedro cried wolf for the thousandth time, we all ran out again to see if it was true. He gave what he gave. For the last four days, Elon Musk has reigned over the country.

Specifically with regard to the Judiciary, Musk was a master. In his big game, he is paving the way for the most feared figure in the field of law: disconfirmation. Power, to be exercised, must always maintain the appearance of effectiveness. When it starts to be ignored, it ends up becoming pathetic, ceasing to be power.

Musk is building an apparatus to be able to ignore orders from national states. This apparatus has at least three elements. Encouraging the use of VPNs, a system that allows Anatel and operators to block websites and services in Brazil. If a significant number of people start using VPNs, the Judiciary loses the ability to block them. It will then be tempted to block VPNs themselves, a step no democratic country should take.

Another brick in the wall of disconfirmation that Musk is building is the threat to close Brazil’s X (Twitter) office, placing it beyond the reach of Brazilian jurisdiction. Without a presence in the country, it would be necessary to resort to international treaties and judicial cooperation from other countries, which is not only time-consuming but also unlikely to be effective.

Finally, the big poker card of Musk’s disconfirmation is called Starlink. The businessman currently owns the largest low-orbit satellite internet provider on the planet. Just travel through the interior of Brazil, including the Amazon region, to see how Starlink already has deep roots in Brazil. Its next technological evolution will be to connect directly to cell phones, without needing a special device (Anatel is already conducting tests on this in the country).

As Starlink is a provider controlled by Musk, it is possible to imagine that it will refuse to comply with court orders that its owner finds unreasonable, especially in relation to X, his private platform. In this case, the Judiciary will be tempted to want to block Starlink itself. Another line that should not be crossed and whose side effects would be intolerable, given the dependence and popularity of the service in the country.

Celso Lafer says that the exercise of law is the exercise of prudence. The Brazilian Judiciary is dealing with a new type of manipulation. Prudence should not be left aside. By acting with the liver, it transfers power to the internet court and helps agenda its own disconfirmation.

After all, Musk is much more influential on big tech than we like to realize. He is the cattle driver who throws the first piranha cattle into the water. Fired thousands of people from Twitter. It worked out. All big techs did the same. Reduced investments in security on the platform. It worked out. All big techs did the same. You are now building the web to start ignoring court orders (and laws) that you feel are not aligned with your particular idea of ​​free speech and your business interests. If it works, others will follow.

Brazil can be more intelligent and strategic than it has been in the last four days. It’s time to see things as they are. Starting with banana peels.

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