Tensions between Brazil and Elon Musk’s business empire have soared further as the country’s telecoms regulator threatened to sanction his satellite broadband company, Starlink, hours after its top court had stood behind a controversial decision to ban social network X from the country.
Moreover, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has frozen bank accounts held by Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet venture under SpaceX to ensure the payment of fines levied against X for failing to obey judicial orders. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also backed the top court’s Judge Alexandre de Moraes’ decision to suspend X.
“The Brazilian judiciary may have given an important signal that the world is not obliged to put up with Musk’s far-right ideology just because he is rich,” Lula said in an interview with CNN Brasil released on Monday, September 2.
The feud between Justice Moraes and Mr. Musk has been intensifying. The billionaire has repeatedly accused Justice Moraes of censorship for his efforts to combat disinformation, and in April, the Justice placed Mr. Musk under investigation for obstruction of justice, incitation of criminal activity, and the “wilful criminal instrumentalization” of X
The company came under scrutiny in Brazil in 2023 when an Associated Press report revealed that Starlink antennas were being used by illegal miners in the Amazon. In an April operation led by the armed forces, Brazilian authorities seized 24 Starlink antennas from wildcat miners in the Yanomami indigenous land.
X on August 17 announced its sudden closure of operations in Brazil, accusing Justice Moraes of legal harassment following orders to suspend accounts spreading disinformation. Moraes last week ruled that X should be suspended in Brazil because it did not name a local legal representative as required by law and ignored a deadline for compliance.
Most of the accounts banned by Brazillian courts were tied to campaigns to undermine the country’s voting system, a tactic that fuelled a bomb plot at Brasilia airport and inspired hordes of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters to storm government buildings in early 2023 in a bid to incite a military coup.
X was taken down for most Brazilians in the early hours of Saturday, 31st August, following Moraes’ decision although some people continued to access it through VPNs and other means. Moraes has also threatened to levy a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,902.66) a day on those using VPNs to access the social network, although it remains unclear how enforceable that threat is.
Brazil is X’s sixth-biggest market globally with about 21.5 million users as of April, according to Statista.
On Monday, September 2, Starlink again found itself in Brazilian authorities’ crosshairs by refusing to obey Moraes’s order for all internet providers to block domestic access to X.
A senior official at telecommunications regulator Anatel said sanctions against Starlink for noncompliance could include the revocation of its license to operate in Brazil.
Starlink dominates satellite broadband in Brazil with nearly 46 percent market share, though satellite internet accounts for less than 1 percent of the country’s connectivity.
Chief Justice Luis Roberto Barroso said that removing legal representatives to avoid complying with court decisions “is a behaviour that would not be acceptable anywhere in the world.”
Reacting to the judge’s earlier move to freeze Starlink’s accounts for possible use to pay fines owed by X, Musk said in an X posting that he would seek a reciprocal seizure of Brazilian assets, but did not say how.
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