Judge Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) gave the company 24 hours to report the name and qualification of X’s new legal representative in Brazil.
A Supreme Court judge Brazil blocked the finance of the company Starlink of the billionaire Elon Muskamid a judicial threat of imminent suspension of the social network X in the country.
The satellite internet company reported that “earlier this week” it received the magistrate’s order Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), which “freezes” his finances and prevents him from “carrying out financial transactions” in Brazil.
According to the firm, which said it wanted to “address the matter legally,” “This order is based on the unfounded premise that Starlink should be held liable for fines unconstitutionally imposed on X.”
The message from Starlink, which has more than 250,000 customers in Brazil, particularly in the Amazon region, comes a day after Moraes threatened to suspend the social network, owned by Musk.
The judge urged the tycoon to indicate “within 24 hours the name and qualification of the new legal representative of X in Brazil.”
Failure to comply would lead to the “immediate suspension of the social network’s activities” in Brazil, the high court said on its account on the social network itself, formerly known as Twitter.
Musk responded to the court ruling by lashing out at the Brazilian judge in an X for having “repeatedly violated the laws he swore to uphold.”
Already in April, De Moraes accused Musk of reactivating accounts suspended by the Brazilian justice system.
In April, the judge opened an investigation against Musk, accusing him of reactivating accounts whose suspensions had been ordered by Brazilian courts.
The company said it was closing its operations in the South American giant due to the judge’s actions, but was keeping the service available to Brazilians.
In recent years, in the name of fighting disinformation, Moraes has ordered the blocking of the accounts of influential figures from Brazil’s ultraconservative movements.
Musk is also the subject of a Brazilian investigation into “digital militias” that points to the alleged illegal use of public resources by Bolsonaro and his inner circle to orchestrate online disinformation campaigns during his presidency (2019-2022).
Source: Ambito
