SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell made a public appeal to a senior Brazilian judicial official on Thursday, asking him to “stop harassing Starlink” amid the country’s dispute with Elon Musk’s social media company X.
Musk has been locked in a months-long dispute with Brazilian courts, which are waging war against X for hosting accounts that they say spread extremism and misinformation.
After X refused to comply with a court order last month to remove certain accounts, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the platform to be shut down nationwide immediately. The ban, which was supported by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was upheld unanimously earlier this week.
But the feud has spilled over into Musk’s other businesses, most notably SpaceX, which sells satellite internet service Starlink in the country. Shortly after banning X, Brazil froze Starlink’s corporate accounts to ensure X pays a fine of more than $3 million that it owes to a Brazilian court, local media reported.
The order focuses specifically on Starlink Brazil Holding Ltda and Starlink Brazil Services de Internet Ltda, which have provided internet access to approximately 250,000 customers in the country since January 2022. Many of these customers are located in areas lacking existing telecommunications infrastructure, which is likely to be one of Starlink’s largest markets outside of North America.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment.
The court also issued an injunction requiring Starlink to block access to X, a ruling that Starlink initially said it would refuse to comply with, but the satellite communications company backed out a day later and said it would comply with the order.
Last month, Starlink said the asset freeze order was “based on an unfounded finding that Starlink should be liable for unconstitutionally imposed fines against X.” In a separate post on September 3, Starlink said it had begun legal proceedings in Brazil to challenge that order.
“Despite Starlink’s unlawful treatment in freezing our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil,” it said.
SpaceX later sent a company-wide email to employees advising them not to travel to Brazil, even for personal reasons. The company is also relocating a small number of SpaceX employees in Brazil. The email and relocation were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Shotwell’s communication is the latest effort to move the ball in this complex financial and geopolitical mess.
Starlink’s entanglement in the conflict is the most powerful example yet of how political leaders and regulators have little hesitation in punishing Musk’s various businesses, regardless of whether they are the subject of a dispute.
