Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered Musk's X to name a legal representative or be suspended
qz.com
Elon Musk slammed a Brazilian judge as 'an outright criminal' after Starlink's financial assets were blocked
Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered Musk's X to name a legal representative or be suspended
By
William Gavin
Published Yesterday
X owner Elon Musk has been locked in a feud with Brazil’s Supreme Court since AprilPhoto: Apu Gomes (Getty Images)
After months of feuding between X Corp. owner Elon Musk and a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, the local financial assets of Musk’s Starlink have reportedly been blocked.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Musk have been locked in a feud since April, when Moraes
announced he was investigating the billionaire for obstruction of justice after Musk said he would defy a court order blocking some accounts on X. The company has also claimed that Moraes threatened to arrest one of its legal representatives in Brazil if it didn’t comply.
Musk earlier this month announced that X would close down its operations in Brazil over the judge’s “
censorship orders.” Although, the service is still available for users in the country.
On Wednesday, the justice
issued a summons alerting Musk he has until 7 p.m. ET Thursday to name a legal representative for the social media company. Under Brazilian law, social media companies are required to have a representative based in the country.
But ahead of that order, Moraes ordered that the assets of a “de facto economic group” under Musk’s control be frozen to guarantee X pay the fines issued by Brazil’s courts, according to
G1. Local media on Thursday
reported that the order applied specifically to Starlink, a subsidiary of Musk’s aerospace firm SpaceX, which sells satellite internet services in Brazil. Executives have reportedly already been notified and summoned to respond over the fines levied at X.
“This guy
@Alexandre is an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge,” Musk wrote in a post on X after local media reported the order, tagging Moraes’ account on the platform.
Earlier on Thursday, Musk — without evidence — accused Brazilian media of being “controlled” by Moraes, who he named a “fake judge dictator.” He also claimed that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was his “lapdog.”
Moraes could order X’s services to be taken down in Brazil, although it would likely take several days to receive court approval. A shutdown would need Moraes to order telecommunications companies to stop carrying X traffic, although users would be able to get around that through virtual private networks, according to
Reuters.