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SpaceX’s satellite broadband company Starlink said Tuesday it is fighting to keep its customers in Brazil connected after the country’s telecommunications regulator threatened sanctions.
Starlink has now found itself in the middle of a spat between X’s owner Elon Musk and Brazilian Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who banned X in Brazil after finding that the platform allowed postings that he deemed had undermined Brazil’s democracy.
Moraes ordered all telecommunication providers in the country to shut down X for lacking a legal representative in Brazil.
The move also led to the freezing of Starlink’s bank accounts in Brazil.
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Starlink logo seen displayed on a smartphone with an economic stock exchange index graph in the background. (Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Starlink, which is a subsidiary of SpaceX, told Brazil regulator Anatel it will not comply with the order to ban X in the country until its local accounts are unfrozen.
“To our customers in Brazil (who may not be able to read this as a result of X being blocked by [Moraes]): The Starlink team is doing everything possible to keep you connected,” read a statement posted on Starlink’s official X account.
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Starlink said it initiated legal proceedings in the Brazilian Supreme Court after Moraes’ order.
“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,” the company wrote. “We continue to pursue all legal avenues, as are others who agree that [Moraes]’ recent orders violate the Brazilian constitution.”
FOX Business has reached out to Moraes’ office and Anatel for comment on Starlink’s post.
On Monday, Brazil’s Supreme Court backed Moraes’ decision to suspend X, a decision applauded by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who told CNN Brazil: “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.”
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Musk has responded with scathing criticism of Moraes’ actions and the Court’s decision, calling the judge a “dictator.” The billionaire has said he would seek a reciprocal seizure of Brazilian assets, but did not elaborate.
Reuters contributed to this report.
