By Ricardo Brito and Luciana Magalhaes
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Tensions between Brazil and Elon Musk’s business empire escalated as the country’s telecoms regulator threatened to sanction satellite broadband company Starlink hours after the top court stood behind a controversial decision to ban social network X from the country. . .
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also supported the decision of top court judge Alexandre de Moraes to suspend X. The judge found that X allowed the posting of hateful messages and falsehoods about the country’s electronic voting system that undermines Brazil’s democracy.
“The Brazilian court may send an important signal that the world should not adopt Musk’s far-right ideology just because he is rich,” Lula said in an interview with CNN Brazil released Monday.
In response to a previous judge’s move to freeze Starlink accounts so they could be used to pay fines owed by X, Musk said in X’s post that he would seek to seize Brazilian assets, but did not say how.
Starlink on Monday once again found itself in the crosshairs of the Brazilian authorities by not complying with Moraes order for all internet providers to block domestic access to X.
A senior official at telecoms regulator Anatel said sanctions against Starlink for non-compliance could include revoking its license to operate in Brazil.
Anatel Commissioner Artur Coimbra told Reuters that the regulator is reviewing all Brazilian telecom operators to ensure they have shut down Musk’s messaging platform.
Starlink is the only company that has told Anatel that it will not comply with the judge’s decision, Coimbra said.
Starlink did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Before telling Anatel it was unwilling to remove X from service until the freeze on Brazilian bank accounts was lifted, the telecoms regulator confirmed to Reuters on Monday.
Moraes last week released the Starlink account after X failed to pay a fine imposed for disobeying a court order.
THE SIXTH BIGGEST MARKET
Earlier on Monday, a Supreme Court panel voted unanimously to uphold X’s suspension in the country for defying a court order.
Moraes last week ruled that X should be suspended from working in Brazil for failing to name a local legal representative as required by law and ignoring a deadline for compliance.
Judges Flavio Dino, Cristiano Zanin, Carmen Lucia and Luiz Fux sided with Judge Alexandre de Moraes. The three judges on the panel said the suspension could be overturned if the platform complied with the previous ruling.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the panel’s decision.
X was taken down for most Brazilians on Saturday after Moraes’ decision although some continued to access it through VPNs and other means. Moraes also threatened to pay a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,902.66) per day to those who use a VPN to access the social network, although it is still unclear how the threat will be carried out.
Brazil is the sixth largest market worldwide with around 21.5 million users in April, according to Statista.
Moraes and Musk, who own a controlling stake in Starlink, have been locked in a months-long dispute after the social media platform challenged an order to block accounts accused by investigators of spreading false and hateful information.
While Moraes’ defenders see him as a crusader in defense of democracy, critics accuse him of using heavy-handed methods against politicians and businessmen.
Musk has argued that Moraes sought to censor users and closed X’s Brazil office in August without appointing a new representative, prompting the delay.
On Monday, Musk responded, “Absolutely,” to a post that described the suspension as an attack on freedom of expression and the rights of Brazilian citizens.
Chief Justice Luis Roberto Barroso, who was not on the review panel, said that removing legal representatives from complying with court decisions “is unacceptable behavior anywhere in the world.”
X remains inaccessible to most users in Brazil.
($1 = 5.6163 reais)
