Billionaire Elon Musk has compared Brazil's Chief Justice Alexandre de Moraes to the infamous Harry Potter villain, Lord Voldemort. The SpaceX CEO made the comparison in a tweet, which has since gone viral, featuring side-by-side images of Judge Moraes and Voldemort.
Judge Moraes is seen in a black cloak similar to that worn by Voldemort, who is wielding a wand in the other image. "The resemblance is uncanny. Alexandre de Voldemort," The Tesla CEO wrote in the caption on X.
An X user added fuel to the controversy by creating a video that transitioned Brazil's Chief Justice into Voldemort. The edited clip showed Mr Moraes rising in the air, cloaked in black, before morphing into the Harry Potter villain holding a wand.
Others took digs at Mr Moraes with comments like, "I feel bad for Voldemort," and "Voldemort was nicer."
This comparison comes on the heels of a major development involving X's operations in Brazil. On Saturday, the social media giant announced it would be shuttering its operations in the country, citing an ongoing legal battle with the Brazil Chief Justice as the primary reason. The shutdown was described as "effective immediately," although Brazilian users will still have access to the platform.
"We are deeply saddened that we have been forced to make this decision," X said in an official statement, placing the blame squarely on Moraes. The company claimed that the decision was a direct result of the actions of the Brazilian Supreme Court judge.
The legal conflict between X and Judge Moraes has been simmering for some time. Earlier this year, the judge ordered X to block certain accounts accused of spreading disinformation and hate speech, particularly those linked to supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Mr Bolsonaro had repeatedly cast doubt on the integrity of Brazil's electronic voting system, claiming it was vulnerable to fraud - a claim that fueled tensions leading up to the tightly contested 2022 election.
Alexandre de Moraes, who also presides over Brazil's Superior Electoral Tribunal, has been a vocal advocate for combating disinformation. "Freedom of expression doesn't mean freedom of aggression," Mr Moraes has said in the past, as per an Al Jazeera report. "It doesn't mean the freedom to defend tyranny."
In the latest escalation, X claimed Mr Moraes secretly threatened one of its legal representatives in Brazil with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content. "As a result, to protect the safety of our staff, we have made the decision to close our operation in Brazil," they said in their statement.
Elon Musk, never one to shy away from controversy, doubled down on his criticism of Mr Moraes, calling him "an utter disgrace to justice" in a separate post on X.
Earlier this year, Judge Moraes had also initiated an inquiry into Elon Musk and X after the X owner announced plans to reactivate accounts on the platform that Moraes had previously ordered to be blocked.
