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

Starlink, Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite internet service, said Tuesday it will block Musk’s social media platform X in Brazil to comply with the country’s recent Supreme Court order blocking the platform in the South American nation.

“The Starlink team is doing everything possible to keep you connected,” the company wrote Tuesday on X.

Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the freeze of Starlink’s financial transactions, prompting the company to initiate legal proceedings and fight what it said was the “illegality” of the order.

“Regardless of the illegal treatment of Starlink in freezing of our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil,” the company wrote. “We continue to pursue all legal avenues, as are others who agree that @alexandre’s recent orders violate the Brazilian constitution.”

Court documents showed Starlink missed the deadline to present a new appeal against the order to freeze the accounts, Reuters reported.

Prior to Starlink agreeing to comply with the order, Brazil’s telecommunications regulator Anatel threatened sanctions against the company, CNBC reported.

The order to freeze Starlink’s assets came as part of de Moraes’s larger order to block access to X amid an ongoing feud with Musk, who purchased the platform in 2022.

The months-long feud between Musk and de Moraes escalated earlier this month when X closed its office in Brazil after the judge ordered the platform to remove posts from the site. If X failed to comply, the judge said he would levy a daily fine of $3,650 and an arrest decree against its representative, Rachel Nova Conceicao. 

Tensions came to a head last week amid de Moraes’s threat to shut down the billionaire’s social media platform in the country. Musk hit back, calling de Moraes an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge.”

The next day, de Moraes ordered the immediate suspension of X throughout the country after the platform refused to name a new legal representative. He directed internet service providers and app stores to block X in Brazil within five days and ordered daily fines of 50,000 reais — or nearly $9,000 — for those who use virtual private networks (VPNs) or other methods to access the platform. 

The order will remain until the company complies with all court orders and pays all fines, the court said last week.

Musk quickly sought to characterize it as an attack on free speech and alleged the judge’s order was for a “political purpose.”

Some legal experts questioned the grounds and enforcement of the decision, while some suggested it was an authoritarian move, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

The Brazilian Bar Association said last Friday it would request that the Supreme Court review the fines imposed on all citizens using VPNs or other means to access X without due process, the AP reported. The bar contended the sanctions should not be imposed until an adversarial process is ensured, the AP added.

Musk previously challenged an order from de Moraes in April ordering the platform to block certain accounts in the country and vowed to reverse the restrictions. However, X ultimately said it would comply with the rulings.