Elon Musk and X bow to Brazil

Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite Internet service, has announced that it will comply with the Brazilian Supreme Court’s decision to block access to social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The decision comes as Elon Musk has been embroiled in a legal dispute with the Brazilian government for several months.

Starlink, the satellite internet service owned and operated by SpaceX, says it will block the social network X in Brazil to continue operations there without the threat of losing its license. https://t.co/FVdxPDdTT4

— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 3, 2024

A judge had ordered Elon Musk and X to appoint a legal representative in Brazil to receive judicial notifications and facilitate the deletion of certain accounts spreading disinformation.

After several weeks of refusal on Elon Musk’s part, the judge finally ordered that X be blocked throughout Brazil by all ISPs, including Starlink.

This comes after X closed its office in Brazil and fired its legal representative in response to the Brazilian government’s request to remove political content containing disinformation from its platform.

Initially, Elon Musk, through Starlink, had announced that he would refuse to comply with the Supreme Court order.

However, Starlink then changed its position and decided to block X.

This will no doubt bring relief to around 250,000 Starlink customers in Brazil…

In a message on X, Starlink indicated that it would use all possible legal means to challenge the decision while respecting the Brazilian order to block the social media platform.