Elon Musk has intensified his attacks on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes amid escalating legal tensions. The conflict arose after de Moraes ordered Musk’s company, X Corp. (formerly Twitter), to appoint a legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours or face suspension. Brazil, with over 171 million active social media users, mandates that social networks have a local representative to handle government takedown requests during its election season.

X Corp. had previously removed all employees from Brazil, leaving the company vulnerable to legal action. In response to the court order, Musk posted an image of de Moraes behind bars, predicting the judge’s future imprisonment. The situation escalated when de Moraes ordered the freezing of Starlink’s financial assets in Brazil, a move Musk’s companies claim was unconstitutional and conducted without due process.

Musk has since labeled de Moraes as a “tyrant” and accused him of dictatorial behavior, further complicating his relationship with Brazil, where former president Jair Bolsonaro, a Musk ally, had previously granted him business privileges. The ongoing dispute has drawn attention to Brazil’s efforts to combat online misinformation, with de Moraes leading investigations into Musk and X Corp. for their role in obstructing justice and allegedly supporting digital militias. Meanwhile, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee has also scrutinized Brazil’s court orders concerning content moderation on X.