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Starlink said it is complying with Brazil’s order to block Elon Musk’s X platform, backtracking from its earlier position that it would not block X until Brazilian officials released Starlink’s frozen assets. In an update on Tuesday afternoon, Starlink said it is blocking X while continuing to fight the asset freeze in court.
“Following last week’s order from [Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes] that froze Starlink’s finances and prevents Starlink from conducting financial transactions in Brazil, we immediately initiated legal proceedings in the Brazilian Supreme Court explaining the gross illegality of this order and asking the Court to unfreeze our assets,” SpaceX’s satellite broadband division said. “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. We continue to pursue all legal avenues, as are others who agree that @alexandre’s recent orders violate the Brazilian constitution.”
Starlink previously said that a Brazilian court order froze its assets “based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X.” An Associated Press article said that “de Moraes froze Starlink’s accounts last week as a means to compel it to cover X’s fines that already exceeded $3 million, reasoning that the two companies are part of the same economic group.”
De Moraes ordered the suspension of X, formerly Twitter, on Friday and gave ISPs five days to block the service. His ruling was unanimously upheld on Monday by a Supreme Court panel of five judges including himself.
A Brazilian telecom agency representative said that Starlink “informed the regulator on Tuesday it would conclude the blocking within hours,” according to Reuters. The telecom agency, Anatel, “verified Starlink has already started to cut access to X in Brazil.”
Brazil could have seized Starlink equipment
If Starlink provided access to X after the blocking deadline, Anatel board member Arthur Coimbra told the Associated Press via video call, “telecommunications regulator Anatel could eventually have seized equipment from Starlink’s 23 ground stations that ensure the quality of its Internet service.”
The dispute between X and Brazil has been brewing for months, ever since Musk threatened to disobey an order to suspend dozens of accounts accused of spreading disinformation. “Justice Moraes had ordered that X accounts accused of spreading disinformation—many of which belonged to supporters of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro—must be blocked while they are under investigation,” the BBC wrote.
De Moreas decided that X would be blocked until it pays fines of over $3 million and appoints a local representative. X said last week that its previous legal representative in Brazil resigned after de Moraes threatened her with imprisonment.
De Moraes has been criticized for his heavy-handed tactics. A January 2023 New York Times profile of de Moraes said he “has jailed people without trial for posting threats on social media” and “unilaterally blocked dozens of accounts and thousands of posts on social media, with virtually no transparency or room for appeal.”
Starlink’s post on X noted that customers in Brazil “may not be able to read this as a result of X being blocked” and said the satellite operator “is doing everything possible to keep you connected.”
Reuters reported that a court document showed Starlink missed a deadline to bring a new appeal against the asset freeze, “and it was not immediately clear what legal instrument the firm would use to request the overturn of the freezing.”