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Demoras now freezes Starlink’s account to collect X fine
Musk’s X argued: “DeMoras’ colleagues on the Supreme Court were either unable or unwilling to confront him.”
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) judge Alexandre De Moraes on Thursday froze the accounts of internet provider Starlink to guarantee payment of a fine he imposed on social media platform X, the Brazilian news agency Brasil reported. Both X and Starlink are owned by South African-born tycoon Elon Musk, who has repeatedly called the judge a “dictator.”
De Moras imposed these financial penalties on the network formerly known as Twitter after it failed to comply with his requests to shut down the accounts of users under investigation, including Senator Marcos Duval and others, and to hand over any data about them. Starlink provides internet services to rural areas of the country and has contracts with public institutions such as the armed forces and the electoral court. The day before the latest ruling, de Moras gave Musk 24 hours to appoint a new legal representative for X in Brazil. On August 17, Musk announced the closure of the company’s headquarters in Brazil and accused de Moras of threatening him.
Starlink said Thursday it would contest De Moraes’ decision regarding the company’s bank accounts. The company argued: “The order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink is responsible for the fine levied by X. The order was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any due process guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution. We intend to resolve this matter through legal means.”
The deadline for de Moras to appoint a new legal representative for X ended at 8:07 pm on Thursday, and as expected, it was not met. In this case, the next step will be to suspend the social network’s services in the country, for which no deadline has yet been set. X said in a statement that it would not comply with the “illegal decision” of the judge aimed at “censoring” de Moras’ “political opponents.”
“When we tried to defend ourselves in court, the minister threatened to arrest our legal representatives in Brazil. Even after he resigned, he froze all bank accounts. Our questions about his clearly illegal actions were rejected or ignored. Minister Alexandre de Morais’ colleagues in the Supreme Court were either unable or unwilling to confront him,” X stressed when announcing that it would disclose the judge’s confidential decision against the company. X “will not obey illegal orders in secret,” the company stressed.
“We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue involved here is that Judge Alexandre de Morais is asking us to violate Brazil’s own laws. We simply will not do that,” the company added.
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