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A simmering legal feud between Twitter/X and Brazil’s Supreme Court is causing problems for Elon Musk’s other major business in the country: SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet system.
SpaceX confirms that the country’s Supreme Court issued an order freezing Starlink’s finances, preventing it from conducting financial transactions in Brazil.
The court order is surprising since Starlink is an entirely different business from X (previously Twitter). Their main link is Musk, who owns X and is CEO of SpaceX. Still, Brazil’s high court Judge Alexandre de Moraes decided to sanction Starlink in an apparent attempt to force X to comply with Brazilian law.
In response, Starlink tweeted: "This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X. It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to address the matter legally."
The decision to freeze the Starlink accounts occurs as the country’s Supreme Court has been pressuring X/Twitter to name a legal representative in Brazil as de Moraes investigates the social media platform’s role in being used to plot a political insurrection. Earlier this week, de Moraes gave the company a 24-hour deadline to name a legal representative under threat of the court suspending X's activities in the country.
In freezing Starlink's finances, de Moraes cited X's lack of legal representatives in the country and its need to pay some fines, Reuters reports. But so far, Musk has refused to comply and is instead lashing out at Brazil's government on X. “Alexandre de Moraes is an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge,” Musk wrote in a tweet pinned to his account.
Musk and X have also framed the legal feud as a battle to preserve free speech. The company contends de Moraes is issuing “illegal orders to censor his political opponents.” However, the court views the orders as necessary to block people from using social media to incite political violence.
On the Starlink front, the dispute is also raising concerns that it could shut down satellite internet service access, which has become vital to providing broadband to rural communities in Brazil. SpaceX says Starlink currently serves about 250,000 customers in the country, “including small businesses, schools, and first responders, among many others.” But the company plans to keep Starlink service uninterrupted despite the brewing legal battle.
In a tweet, Musk added: “SpaceX will provide Internet service to users in Brazil for free until this matter is resolved, as we cannot receive payment, but don’t want to cut anyone off.”
As for X, the company expects Brazil's high court to shut down access to the social media platform soon over its lack of legal representation in the country. But as of Friday morning, the service remained up in Brazil.