Musk’s Starlink will block X in Brazil to comply with judge’s orders

Starlink, Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite Internet service, announced Tuesday that it would block Musk’s social media platform X, in Brazil, to comply with a recent Supreme Court ruling in Brazil blocking the platform.

The company posted a message on Tuesday, “The Starlink Team is doing everything to keep you connected.”

Starlink, a Brazilian company, has filed a lawsuit against the Supreme Court of Brazil Judge Alexandre de Moraes for freezing its financial transactions. The company argues that the order is “illegal”.

The company stated that “despite the illegal treatment Starlink received in the freezing of its assets, we comply with the order blocking access to X” in Brazil. “We will continue to pursue legal avenues as do others who believe that the recent orders of @alexandre violate Brazil’s constitution.”

Reuters reported that court documents revealed Starlink had missed the deadline for submitting a new appeal to the order freezing the accounts.

CNBC reported that Anatel, Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, had threatened Starlink with sanctions before it agreed to comply with this order.

The order to freeze Starlink assets was part of de Moraes’s larger order blocking access to X in the midst of an ongoing feud between Musk and de Moraes, who bought the platform in 2022.

The long-running feud between Musk, de Moraes and X escalated this month after a judge ordered X to remove all posts from its site. The judge threatened to fine X $3,650 per day and arrest its representative Rachel Nova Conceicao if it did not comply.

Last week, tensions reached a boiling point after de Moraes threatened to shut down Musk’s social media platform. Musk responded by calling de Moraes “an evil dictator dressed as a court judge.”

De Moraes immediately suspended X in Brazil the next day after the platform refused appoint a new representative. He ordered internet service providers to block X within Brazil in five days, and ordered daily fines up to 50,000 reais ($9,000) for anyone who uses virtual private networks to access the platform.

Last week, the court stated that the order would remain in place until the company pays all fines and complies fully with all court orders.

Musk immediately sought to characterize the order as an “attack on free speech” and claimed that it was made for a ‘political reason.

The Associated Press reported that some legal experts questioned both the reasons and the enforcement of the ruling, while others suggested it was an autoritarian decision.

The Brazilian Bar Association announced last Friday that it would ask the Supreme Court to review the fines imposed against all citizens who use VPNs or any other method of accessing X without due procedure. This was reported by the AP. The bar argued that sanctions shouldn’t be imposed until a formal adversarial procedure is in place, according to the AP.

Musk had previously challenged an April order by de Moraes ordering that the platform block certain accounts within the country. He vowed to reverse these restrictions. X, however, said that it would follow the rulings.