The dispute between Elon Musk and Brazil’s Supreme Court has spread to the billionaire’s various companies after the judge threatened to shut down Platform X in Brazil and freeze the bank accounts of Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet service. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes is leading efforts to combat fake news and hate speech in Brazil. Musk and the country’s political right, including former President Jair Bolsonaro, accuse the judge of exceeding his authority and undermining freedom of expression. On August 18, Moraes issued an order to freeze Starlink’s bank accounts to force payment of penalties imposed on the social platform X, a person familiar with the situation at the Supreme Court confirmed. Starlink serves about 250,000 customers in Brazil. Brazil’s top court did not comment on the report. Musk responded sharply to Moraes, calling him a “disguised criminal” posing as a judge in a post on X. The post referred to the situation of the two companies in the country. Starlink confirmed in several posts on X that an order from Moraes has frozen the company’s finances and prevented it from conducting financial transactions in Brazil. “This order is based on an unsubstantiated finding that Starlink should be responsible for the unconstitutional fines imposed on X,” the company said, adding that it wants to resolve the matter legally. Moraes threatened on Wednesday to block X in Brazil if the company did not appoint a legal representative in the country by Thursday evening. The decision came days after the platform announced it would cease its operations in Brazil while keeping the service available to its estimated 20 million active users in the country. Musk responded to the order with an apparently AI-generated image showing a man who looks like Moraes behind bars. “One day, Alexandre, that picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words,” Musk posted.
