Musk’s conflict with Brazil deepens, risking closure of X and Starlink
Musk responded to the order with an AI-generated photo of a man resembling Moraes behind bars.
The fallout from Elon Musk’s dispute with Brazil’s top judge spread to the billionaire’s companies after the judge vowed to shut down X and freeze Starlink bank accounts in Latin America’s largest economy.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes is leading efforts to combat fake news and hate speech in Brazil. Musk and the country’s right wing, including former President Jair Bolsonaro, say the judge is overstepping his bounds and undermining freedom of expression.
The order to freeze bank accounts belonging to Musk’s satellite internet provider was issued by Moraes on August 18, local news website G1 reported, in an attempt to force him to pay fines levied against social media platform X. A person with knowledge of the situation at the Supreme Court confirmed the report. Starlink says it has a quarter of a million customers in Brazil.
Brazil’s Supreme Court did not comment on the report. Musk lashed out at Moraes, calling him a “criminal posing as a judge” in a post on X that referenced both companies’ situations in the country.
Starlink confirmed in a series of posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that an order from Moraes froze the company’s finances and prevented it from conducting financial transactions in Brazil.
“This order is based on an unfounded finding that Starlink should be liable for the fines imposed – unconstitutionally – on X,” the company said, adding that it plans to “address the matter legally”.
Moraes threatened to block X in Brazil on Wednesday if the company does not appoint a legal representative in the country by Thursday evening.
The decision came days after the platform announced it would cease operations in Brazil, but keep the service available to the country’s estimated 20 million active users.
Musk responded to the order with an apparently AI-generated photo of a man resembling Moraes behind bars. “One day, Alexandre, this photo of you in prison will be real. Remember my words,” Musk posted.
First publication: Aug 30, 2024 | 07:33 AM IST