In a recent development on the case between Elon Musk’s Starlink and Brazil's Supreme Court, the satellite internet service provider has agreed to block access to the social network X in Brazil. This follows a messy, litigious fight involving the nation's Supreme Court that slapped a nationwide ban on X for failure to comply with the laws relating to its operations in the country.
On September 2, 2024, the Supreme Court in Brazil approved the suspension of X, formerly the social network Twitter, over a breach in laws relating to data privacy. The move had been supported by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said X played a role in spreading misinformation during voting in the country, undermining its democracy. Read More
Brazilian Supreme Court ordered all internet providers in the country to block X by instructing them to restrict access to the platform. Justice Alexandre de Moraes was behind this decree that was given on September 2, 2024. The court also ordered tech giants like Apple and Google to pull down the app from online stores within five days.
Initially, Starlink objected to this ruling citing the freezing of its assets was illegal. The company has since relented, noting, “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.”
Starlink operates more than 250,000 customer modems in Brazil and would have faced serious consequences had it refused to comply. An order by the Brazilian Supreme Court to block X was followed by a spate of fines and other legal actions against Starlink, freezing its bank accounts and seizing cars, real estate, boats, and aircraft. Furthermore, Brazil's central bank was ordered to block the financial transactions of Starlink with international accounts for not paying the fines imposed for non-compliance on blocking X.
To which CEO, Elon Musk added, “Unless the Brazilian government returns the illegally seized property of 𝕏 and SpaceX, we will seek reciprocal seizure of government assets too.”
A standoff by X against the Brazilian judiciary reflects a broader tension between international tech companies and national regulation. The standoff well reflects the difficulty of trying to balance international businesses with compliance with local legislation, particularly in jurisdictions that have tight regulatory frameworks.