Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Samuel Corum | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Brazil’s Supreme Court announced on Friday that it has ordered banks to transfer money from Starlink and X accounts to pay court fines against Elon Musk’s social network.
The court’s senior judge, Alexandre de Moraes, and a panel of five other judges found that X repeatedly violated Brazilian law when he refused to appoint a legal representative in the country and refused to remove content or profiles from his platform. The court ruled that it was harmful to democratic institutions in Brazil.
The court transferred approximately 18.4 million Brazilian reals, or about $3.3 million, from the accounts. In 2022, Musk acquired Xi, also known as Twitter. Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by SpaceX.
After the transfers, the court ordered the release of X and Starlink, saying there was no longer any need to keep their frozen bank accounts and assets.
In late August, the court suspended X, and the suspension remains in effect.
Musk and his companies said they considered de Moraes’ actions “illegal” and that the court’s decisions were made without due process. X and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Brazil’s UOL news agency reported earlier this month that some of the accounts de Moraes ordered suspended on Maska X belonged to users who allegedly threatened federal police officers involved in the investigation of Brazil’s former right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro is accused of inciting the January 8 riots and attempted coup d’état in Brazil.
Musk is a supporter of Bolsonaro because the former Brazilian president allowed his business, Starlink, to operate in the country.
Musk has stepped up the insults and calls for de Moraes’ impeachment since April. On September 5, his longtime colleague at the helm of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell, also appeared online in Brazil’s Supreme Court.
He wrote, “@Alexandre please stop harassing Starlink and let’s continue to serve the people of Brazil.”
De Moraes and supporters of the STF saw the orders against X Corp as an affirmation of Brazilian sovereignty.
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