Brazil Bans Elon Musk’s X But His Starlink Refuses To Comply

Social media has enabled us to share ideas, opinions and news instantly with hundreds of millions of people. Today, social media platforms also act as digital “hangout zones”, where friends, family and peers can make plans without the need to meet in person.

Moreover, people can access such platforms at their convenience and still be a part of the conversation. These unrestricted channels also enable users to freely express their views and promote free speech.

However, the downside of such platforms is that they can be used for nefarious purposes, such as spreading misinformation, false news or calls for acts of violence.

This is what became a point of concern for a Brazilian judge, who found tech mogul Elon Musk’s X platform creating problems, which turned into a long-term feud.

Now, a top judge from the country’s federal court has issued a new directive regarding Elon Musk’s social media company, one that his satellite internet company refuses to comply with.

So, what is the feud about and how will it impact the country, X users and Elon Musk? Let’s explore!

What Is The Brazilian Judge’s New Order?

According to a report by Bloomberg and Brazil’s local media outlet Poder360, Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes has issued an order suspending Elon Musk’s X from operating in Brazil.
This included Moraes telling Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to cut off access to X after 24 hours, while also directing Apple and Google to remove X’s application from their mobile app stores within 5 days.
Furthermore, the country will impose a daily fine of $50,000 Brazilian real or $8,900 USD on people trying to access the platform using VPNs.
In his ruling, Moraes stated that X was contributing to “an environment of total impunity and lawlessness in Brazilian social networks, including during the 2024 local elections.”
Moraes added, “Extremist groups and digital militias” have been using the platform for “massive dissemination of Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful and anti-democratic speeches.”
The move came as the company, led by Elon Musk, failed to appoint a new legal representative for the country.
As Brazil's Supreme Court unanimously voted to keep the ban in place, users switched to other platforms such as Threads and Bluesky.
The feud began months ago when Moraes opened an investigation into the company after it reactivated accounts that were blocked to curb the spread of misinformation. As per reports, many of those accounts were linked to supporters of the right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Recently, Elon Musk even shut X offices in the country after de Moraes threatened to arrest the company’s previous legal representative for not complying with the censorship orders.
Post this, the legal representative resigned, leading to the court directing X to appoint a new legal representative within 24 hours or face being banned.

TechDogs-"An Image Of X And Starlink CEO Elon Musk"

Source

How Did X And Elon Musk Respond To Brazil’s Ban?

Of course, the move did not go down well free speech absolutist Elon Musk, who took to X to convey his dismay, saying, “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.”
In another post, Musk also said, “The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries.”
Musk also encouraged users to leverage software to access the platform, despite warnings of fines.
In his effort to defeat the ruling, Musk also told Brazil’s telecom agency that his satellite internet service company Starlink would not comply with orders to block X.
Starlink currently has over 250,000 customers in the country.
Last week, Moraes froze Starlink’s assets in Brazil and disabled it from carrying out transactions in the country.
At that time, Starlink said it wouldn’t block X until the frozen assets weren’t released.
While Starlink didn’t provide a comment for Musk’s latest move, X’s Global Government Affairs handle on the platform provided a detailed statement of the situation.
As per an update issued by Starlink a day later, the company said through a post published on X that it was ready to comply with the order to block access to X in Brazil.
The post, which also tagged Moraes, read “Following last week’s order from @alexandre 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.”
[Contd.] “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.”

What Did X Say?

Through a post on X (in English and Portuguese), the company said, “Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents. These enemies include a duly elected Senator and a 16-year-old girl, among others.”
“When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts. Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him.”
“We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.”
“In the days to come, we will publish all of Judge de Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency. Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders.”
“To our users in Brazil and around the world, X remains committed to protecting your freedom of speech.”

Do you think Brazil’s Supreme Court has a valid point in blocking particular accounts or do you think Elon Musk is right in his crusade against the country’s “unjust censorship”?

Let us know in the comments below!

First published on Tue, Sep 3, 2024

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