Starlink, the satellite broadband company owned by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, has decided to comply with a Brazilian court order to block access to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. This decision marks a reversal of Starlink’s initial stance, as the company had previously informed Brazil’s telecom regulator, Anatel, that it would not obey the order.
Starlink’s compliance comes after the company faced the freezing of its assets in Brazil. The company acknowledged the “illegal treatment” in a post on X, stating, “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.” Despite complying, Starlink maintains its stance that the order is unconstitutional and continues to pursue legal avenues.
The social media platform has been blocked in Brazil since last week following a court order due to X’s lack of a legal representative in the country. Starlink missed the deadline to appeal against the asset freeze, and the company’s future legal actions remain unclear.
This development follows a series of events that have strained the relationship between Starlink and Brazil. In August, Musk announced that SpaceX would continue to provide Starlink services to the Brazilian military and other users, despite the Supreme Court Justice’s decision to freeze Starlink’s finances. Earlier this month, Musk hinted at the possibility of accepting Dogecoin payments for Starlink services in Brazil after its bank accounts were frozen.
This situation highlights the ongoing tensions between technology companies and national regulations. It remains to be seen how this legal battle will unfold and what impact it will have on Starlink’s operations in Brazil.
