Brazil Supreme Court justice opens inquiry into Elon Musk, escalating dispute over misinformation

• Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes initiated an investigation of tech magnate Elon Musk on Sunday over possible obstruction of justice.
• Musk, who owns and runs X as CTO, said on Saturday that his social media company would defy orders from Brazil's highest court to restrict certain X accounts.
• On Sunday, Musk provoked the court accusing Moraes of betraying Brazil, and calling for the judge's resignation or impeachment.

Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes initiated an investigation of tech magnate Elon Musk on Sunday, the billionaire owner and CTO of social network X (formerly Twitter). The probe concerns possible obstruction of justice by Musk who said, over the weekend, he would defy the court's orders to restrict or suspend some popular accounts on its platform.

Moraes also ordered the inclusion of Musk in a broader inquiry into so-called "digital militias," a term applied to people accused of spreading misinformation online to attack democratic institutions in Brazil.

The orders follow threats of open defiance posted by Musk to his account on X, where he now has 180.2 million listed followers.

A defiant Musk wrote on Saturday in response to earlier court orders: "We are lifting all restrictions. This judge has applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to in Brazil. As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit."

By Sunday, Musk was further provoking the Brazilian Supreme Court calling for the resignation or impeachment of the justice who decided on the orders, Moraes. Musk also made unsupported claims that the judge had broken the law in Brazil.

On Sunday, the tech