Starlink, the satellite internet service owned and operated by SpaceX, said it would block the social network X in Brazil in order to continue operating in the country without fear of losing its license. Both businesses are owned by Elon Musk.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has suspended X’s activities in the country after the company openly defied court orders and failed to pay fines. X rejected requests to suspend accounts posting content aimed at undermining Brazil’s democratic institutions ahead of municipal elections in October.
The Supreme Court’s order froze Starlink’s domestic financial assets to force X to pay the fine, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said he believed Musk’s two companies were acting in concert.
One of the takedown requests was for the account of Senator de Val, who is under investigation for allegedly plotting a coup and sabotaging President Moraes. The social network also refused to appoint a legal representative in the country, as required by federal law.
De Moraes’ critics say he does. Going too far Controlling speech online and on social networks.
As CNBC previously reported, Starlink has been running ads on X, with Musk encouraging users to use the satellite internet service to access their social networks.
SpaceX says it has about 250,000 Starlink customers in Brazil, where competitors include HughesNet, Viasat and Telebras.
X’s Starlink account released the following statement, addressing the decision and de Moraes:
“To our customers in Brazil (You may not be able to read this email because X is blocked) Alexandre):
The Starlink team is working hard to keep you connected. Alexandre Because this order froze Starlink’s finances and prevented it from conducting financial transactions in Brazil, we immediately initiated legal proceedings in the Brazilian Supreme Court, demonstrating the serious illegality of the order and asking the Court to unfreeze our assets.
Despite Starlink’s unlawful action to freeze our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil, and we will continue to pursue all legal options, as will anyone else who agrees. Alexandre‘s recent decree violates the Brazilian Constitution.
Before Starlink agreed to comply with the order to shut down X, Brazil’s telecommunications regulator Anatel had threatened sanctions against the company.
In Brazil, a major non-NATO ally of the United States, Musk has been at odds with the current government for months.
Musk has recently described De Moraes as a “criminal,” likening him to movie and book villains like Darth Vader and Voldemort, and has repeatedly called for his impeachment, claiming De Moraes’ orders amount to illegal censorship.
Musk has praised Brazil’s far-right former president, Jair Bolsonaro, and promised retribution against De Moraes and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
For example, Musk wrote over the weekend, “Unless the Brazilian government returns its illegally seized company and SpaceX assets, we will also call for reciprocal seizure of government assets. We hope Lula enjoys his commercial flight.”
In April, Musk said: @Alexandre Will De Moraes become dictator of Brazil? He has Lula in a bind.”
In an interview with CNN Brazil after the court order was unanimously upheld by a five-judge panel, President Lula said he hoped the controversy over suspending X in the country would show the world that just because Musk is rich doesn’t mean it’s obligated to put up with his far-right rampages, a translation from Portuguese to English reported. Guardian.
Under President Lula’s administration, Brazil’s environmental agency, Ibama, seized Starlink devices being used by illegal miners in the Amazon rainforest.
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