Starlink Confirms Court Froze Its Accounts in Brazil
A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket with the seventh batch of approximately 60 satellites for SpaceXR
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Starlink confirmed on Thursday that it received an order from a Brazilian Supreme Court Justice freezing its finances and preventing it from conducting transactions in the country, saying it would seek to address the matter legally. “Earlier this week we received an order from Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes that freezes Starlink’s finances and prevents Starlink from conducting financial transactions in that country,” the company said on X. Starlink said the order was based on an “unfounded determination” that it should be responsible for the fines levied “unconstitutionally” against X. “It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to address the matter legally,” the statement added.
AnalysisHas Power of Starlink Turned Elon Musk Into Tech Oligarch?29 November 2023, 15:35 GMTReports have indicated that the ruling was earlier passed down on August 18, days before owner Elon Musk was presented with a subpoena on Wednesday to appoint a legal representative for X in Brazil.The order comes in response to months of back and forth between Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Musk over the X social media platform’s failure to block accounts that were alleged to have spread misinformation. Musk previously accused Moraes of censorship.The case, which dates back to April, could see X banned in the country as Brazilian law stipulates social media platforms must have a legal representative in the South American republic.
