Elon Musk's ongoing feud with Brazil's Supreme Court judge has led to social media platform X being on the verge of being shut down in the country, and satellite internet provider Starlink demanding that its financial accounts in the country be unblocked.
X was operating normally in Brazil as of Friday, but announced late on Thursday that Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes expected to order the closure “soon” after a court set a deadline for the company to appoint a legal representative in Brazil.
Earlier this year, a judge ordered X to block certain accounts linked to an investigation into so-called digital militias accused of spreading distorted news and hate.
Musk denounced the order as censorship and responded by closing the company's offices in Brazil. X, as Twitter was known, said at the time that its services would remain available in Brazil.
Amid the underlying feud over X, Brazil's Supreme Court also froze the domestic bank accounts of Starlink, a satellite internet company 40% owned by Musk, leading the company to ask the court on Friday to halt the implementation of that decision.
In its appeal, seen by Reuters, Starlink argued that it had not engaged in “any interference” with X and had not disobeyed any legal orders directed at it. The account freeze was prompted in part by a dispute over unpaid fines that Brazil's Supreme Court had ordered X to pay.
According to Starlink's appeal documents, Moraes had requested the freezing of funds from the satellite broadband company's bank accounts, financial assets, real estate in Brazil, ships and aircraft to cover the fines it owes to X Company.
According to Starlink's appeal, Brazil's Supreme Court has so far been able to freeze about 2 million reais ($354,226.81) from X's Brazilian accounts. Local newspaper Folha reported the total fines were at least 20 million reais ($3.6 million), but Reuters was unable to verify the amount.
Musk said at the event that Starlink, which provides internet connectivity to remote areas, would continue to provide free service to Brazilian citizens, including the military, “until this issue is resolved.”
In a document submitted to the lower house of parliament in June, the military said an interruption to Starlink service could adversely affect military operations and impede the strategic employment of specialized units.
Demanding accountability
With Mr. Musk Judge Moraes“Citizens from any part of the world who invest in Brazil must obey the Brazilian Constitution and Brazilian laws,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told a local radio station on Friday.
“Just because you have a lot of money doesn't mean you have to disrespect (the law),” the left-wing leader added. In a post on X on Thursday, Musk criticized Lula as a “lacker” of Moraes, in which he also called Moraes a “dictator.”
At a separate event on Friday, the judge reiterated his view that social media needs regulation to curb “hate speech,” but gave no details about when he might issue an order blocking X's access.
“Those who undermine democracy and violate fundamental human rights, whether directly or through social media, must be held accountable,” Moraes said.
Brazil's internet laws require social media platforms to have locally based representatives.
To shut down X's operations in Brazil, Moraes would have to order telecommunications companies to stop carrying X's traffic, but users could still get around the shutdowns by using virtual private networks (VPNs).
The US Embassy in Brasilia said in a statement that it was “closely monitoring” the situation between Brazil's Supreme Court and Mr. X, adding that the US values ”freedom of speech as a cornerstone of a healthy democracy” and that it “does not comment on local court decisions or legal disputes.”
In a post on X on Friday, Musk interpreted the U.S. Embassy's statement as a show of support for him and said he “appreciates” the comments.
