Billionaire Elon Musk has compared Brazil’s Chief Justice Alexandre de Moraes to infamous Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort. The SpaceX CEO made the comparison in a tweet that has since gone viral, with side-by-side photos of Judge Moraes and Voldemort.
Judge Moraes can be seen wearing a black cloak similar to the one worn by Voldemort, holding a wand in the second photo. “The resemblance is uncanny. Alexandre de Voldemort,” the Tesla CEO captioned the photo.
The resemblance is amazing ?????????
Alexander de Voldemort pic.twitter.com/IXR569y2qT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024
Adding fuel to the controversy, an X-user created a video in which Brazil’s chief justice was transformed into Voldemort. The edited clip shows Mr Moraes flying through the air dressed in black, and then he transforms into the Harry Potter villain holding a wand.
are you sure??? pic.twitter.com/Nai47AGA1y
— Min Choi (@minchoi) August 17, 2024
Others took a dig at Mr Moraes, saying, “I feel bad for Voldemort,” and “Voldemort was nicer.”
I feel bad for Voldemort
— Greg (@greg16676935420) August 17, 2024
To be honest, Voldemort was better.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene press release (parody) (@MTGrepp) August 17, 2024
This comparison comes after a major development involving X’s operations in Brazil. On Saturday, the social media giant announced that it would shut down its operations in the country, largely due to an ongoing legal battle with Brazil’s Chief Justice. The shutdown was described as “effective immediately,” though Brazilian users will still be able to access the platform.
X said in an official statement, “We are very sorry that we have been forced to make this decision,” and placed the blame directly on Moraes. The company claimed that the decision was a direct result of the actions of a Brazilian Supreme Court judge.
Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we did not comply with his censorship orders. He did so in a secret order, which we are sharing here to expose his actions.
Despite our several appeals not being heard in the Supreme Court… pic.twitter.com/Pm2ovyydhE
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) August 17, 2024
The legal battle between X and Judge Moraes has been going on for some time. Earlier this year, the judge ordered X to block some accounts accused of spreading misinformation and hate speech, particularly those linked to supporters of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. Mr Bolsonaro has repeatedly cast doubt on the integrity of Brazil’s electronic voting system, claiming it is vulnerable to fraud – a claim that has fuelled tensions ahead of the fiercely contested 2022 election.
Alexandre de Moraes, who is also the president of Brazil’s Superior Electoral Tribunal, has been vocal about combating misinformation. “Freedom of expression does not mean freedom of aggression,” Mr Moraes has said in the past, according to a report by Al Jazeera. “It does not mean the freedom to defend tyranny.”
More recently, X claimed that Mr. Moraes had secretly threatened one of its legal representatives in Brazil with arrest if he did not comply with legal orders to remove certain content. “As a result, to protect the safety of our employees, we have decided to shut down our operations in Brazil,” it said in its statement.
Elon Musk, never one to shy away from controversy, doubled down on his criticism of Mr Moraes, calling him a “blatant disgrace to justice” in a separate post on X.
Reasons for Demanding “Justice” @Alexander A situation has arisen in Brazil that would require us to (secretly) break Brazilian, Argentine, US and international law, so we have no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil.
He is a grave disgrace to justice.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024
Earlier this year, Judge Moraes also launched an investigation against Elon Musk and X after the latter’s owner announced plans to reactivate accounts on the platform that Moraes had previously ordered blocked.
