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Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink has reversed course and agreed to block his social media site X in Brazil, in a partial climbdown in the feud between the billionaire and the Supreme Court of Latin America’s largest nation.
A crucial tool for tens of thousands of Brazilians in remote areas such as the Amazon rainforest, Starlink had earlier said it would not comply with a nationwide ban on Musk-owned X, calling the order from Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes “illegal”.
On Friday Moraes ordered regulators to ban access to the social media platform in Brazil after X refused to meet a deadline to appoint a legal representative in the country, a requirement under the country’s civil code.
Musk had earlier shuttered X’s Brazil office amid an escalating spat with Moraes over court requests to remove accounts apparently linked to far-right individuals and groups.
In a contentious move, Moraes also last week froze the bank accounts of Starlink in Brazil, accusing it of being part of a “de facto economic unit” with X.
Starlink is a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX, in which Musk owns about 40 per cent of the stock, but commands 79 per cent of voting rights.
The court said the decision to freeze Starlink’s accounts was an attempt to collect fines levied on X for failing to comply with court orders.
After initially refusing to prohibit access to X, Starlink itself faced the prospect of losing its licence to operate in Brazil. Head of telecoms regulator Anatel, Carlos Baigorri, told local media that Starlink could lose its licence if it was confirmed to be failing to comply with Moraes’s orders.
On Tuesday evening, however, the satellite internet provider backed down from further confrontation.
“Following last week’s order from [Moraes] that froze Starlink’s finances and prevents Starlink from conducting financial transactions in Brazil, we immediately initiated legal proceedings in the Brazilian Supreme Court explaining the gross illegality of this order and asking the court to unfreeze our assets,” Starlink posted on X.
“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,” it said.
With more than 225,000 users in Brazil, Starlink is not among Brazil’s largest internet operators, but is considered a vital tool for communities in remote areas such as the Amazon and in the country’s agricultural heartland.
Starlink is the largest and most successful company of its kind. It operates more than 6,000 low-orbit satellites that beam internet connectivity to small dishes, allowing web access for previously hard-to-reach communities as well as aeroplanes and ships. The satellites are launched by SpaceX’s reusable rockets, another space technology in which Musk has a near-monopoly.
In Brazil, meanwhile, the ban on X has divided people along political lines. Rightwing politicians have decried Moraes as an “autocrat” who is imperilling the country’s liberties, while leftwing figures, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, have backed the ban as an important statement of Brazilian sovereignty.
“The Brazilian justice system may have given an important signal that the world is not obliged to put up with Musk’s far-right anything-goes attitude just because he is rich,” said Lula this week.
Additional reporting by Stephen Morris in London
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