Gonet sees ‘specific flaws’ in the X network and calls for the investigation against Musk to be closed

The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, requested the shelving of the investigation that affects the billionaire and owner of In the perception of the PGR, “the criminal hypotheses raised did not find sufficient evidence to confirm them”.

“In this case, it was not possible to identify malicious behavior on the part of the provider’s legal representatives that would constitute disobedience to decisions on suspension of rights, embarrassment to investigations of criminal organizations or public incitement to crime; on the contrary, what was discovered were specific operational failures that, once notified, were promptly remedied by the company”, maintained Gonet.

Musk is one of the targets of the digital militia investigation, which investigates the activities of groups suspected of spreading false news on social networks and was launched in April 2024 by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes.

When he included the billionaire in the investigation, Moraes stated that Musk “started a disinformation campaign about the actions” of the Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court, “instigating disobedience and obstruction of Justice, including in relation to criminal organizations orders issued by the Brazilian Court related to the blocking of criminal profiles and those that spread fraudulent news, under investigation by this Supreme Court”.

Prosecutor Paulo Gonet disagreed with Moraes’ preliminary assessment and stated in the request to close the investigation that “there are no elements of information that point to a deliberate resistance by the platform to comply with the determinations of this Court or the Superior Electoral Court”.

“The incidents reported by the police authority, although they allowed ephemeral access to suspended content, constitute technical improprieties inherent to the management of a network of global dimensions, lacking fraudulent intent”, maintained the PGR.

In a four-page opinion, Gonet stated that “no evidence was collected to support the initial thesis of intentional exploitation of the social network X to attack the authority of the Brazilian Judiciary.

“In the absence of just cause, this manifestation is for the closure of the investigation, given the obvious lack of factual support for the filing of a complaint”, concluded the prosecutor.

Remember the blockade of X in Brazil

On August 15, 2024, minister Alexandre de Moraes increased from R$50,000 to R$200,000 the daily fine imposed on

On August 17, the platform closed its office in Brazil and withdrew its legal representation, although it continued operating in the country. The movement marked the height of the public clash between Elon Musk and Alexandre de Moraes. Given the decision, the minister ordered Musk to inform, within 24 hours, a legal representative of X in Brazil, under penalty of suspension from the social network in case of non-compliance. The summons was issued by the Court on the platform itself.

At the end of the month, Moraes gave Elon Musk 24 hours to appoint a representative in the country and, faced with the impasse, ordered the blocking of Starlink’s accounts to guarantee the payment of fines.

On August 30, Moraes ordered the suspension of The suspension was carried out the following day by internet operators.

At the beginning of September, Starlink appealed against the blocking of its accounts, but, days later, the minister ordered the transfer of R$18.3 million blocked from the company and X to the Union, in order to ensure payment of the fines.

In mid-September, X changed the platform’s hosting and started operating through Cloudflare, which led Moraes to impose a new fine of R$10 million for non-compliance with the decision. In the same period, the company informed the Supreme Court that it intended to reestablish representation in Brazil.

He then appointed lawyer Rachel de Oliveira Villa Nova, but the minister considered the documentation insufficient, requested new documents and conditioned eventual release on the payment of fines, including imposing a personal fine on the representative.

At the beginning of October, X informed that it would pay all fines, which totaled R$28.6 million, and reiterated its request for unblocking. After pointing out an error in the initial deposit, Moraes ordered the payment to be regularized and requested an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office. With a favorable statement from the PGR, the minister ordered the platform to be unblocked and gave Anatel 24 hours to comply with the decision.