Elon Musk’s Starlink agrees to block the X social network in Brazil

A Starlink satellite internet antenna at the Manakieaway village of the Marubo people in Brazil’s Acre state, on April 7, 2024. Brazilian regulators had said Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, that Starlink planned to defy government orders to block X in the country. On Tuesday, the satellite-internet service said it would comply. (Victor Moriyama/The New York Times)

By Jack Nicas

Starlink, the satellite-internet service controlled by Elon Musk, reversed course Tuesday and said it would comply with Brazilian government orders to block Musk’s social network X in the country.

The move was the first sign of any backing down by Musk in Brazil since he began battling with authorities there last month. X has been blacked out across the nation of 200 million since Saturday because of a dispute between Musk and Brazil’s Supreme Court over what can be said online.

Starlink escalated the fight Sunday when, according to Brazilian regulators, the company declared it would continue allowing its 250,000 customers in Brazil to log on to X, defying the government.

Carlos Baigorri, president of Brazil’s telecommunication agency, said Sunday that if Starlink refused to comply, his agency could revoke its license to operate in the country and could seize 23 ground stations it uses to improve the quality of its connections.

Baigorri said that Starlink had told him earlier that it would not comply until Brazil’s Supreme Court lifted financial sanctions against it in the country.

Alexandre de Moraes, the Brazilian Supreme Court justice who has led the action against X, froze Starlink’s assets and blocked it from completing financial transactions in Brazil in a bid to collect more than $3 million in fines he has imposed against X.

In a post Tuesday afternoon on X, Starlink said that “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.” The company added that it would “continue to pursue all legal avenues.”

Brazil’s Supreme Court has dismissed a request from Starlink to lift the sanctions. Unable to make financial transactions in Brazil, Starlink said it would offer free internet service to Brazilian customers for now.

De Moraes blocked X in Brazil because Musk has refused to comply with court orders to remove certain accounts on the social network, and then closed X’s office in the country. Musk has criticized de Moraes for months, accusing him of illegally censoring free speech. The justice has said Musk is obstructing his work of removing hate speech and attacks on democracy from the Brazilian internet.

X has begun publishing some of the sealed orders that de Moraes has issued to the company to suspend accounts. Those orders do not explain why a given account should be suspended.

On Monday, a panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices upheld the order to block X in the country.