Following its first statement that it would not limit access to the social media website, the corporation changed its position.
5:15 p.m. Eastern Time, September 3, 2018: It has been decided that Starlink will not comply with Brazil’s block of X, but the company has changed its mind. X received a statement from the corporation that read as follows:
“To our consumers in Brazil, who may not be able to read this since @alexandre has blocked account X, we would like to extend the following message:
When it comes to maintaining your connection, the Starlink crew is doing everything in their power.
We immediately initiated legal proceedings in the Brazilian Supreme Court, explaining the gross illegality of this order and asking the Court to unfreeze our assets, in response to the order that was issued by @alexandre the previous week, which froze Starlink’s finances and prevented Starlink from conducting financial transactions in Brazil. We are complying with the order to ban access to X in Brazil, despite the fact that Starlink has been treated in an improper manner in the process of freezing our assets.
Together with other individuals who are of the same opinion that the recent instructions issued by @alexandre contradict the Brazilian constitution, we are continuing to explore all legal avenues.
The original article, which was published on September 2 and is titled “Starlink is refusing to comply with Brazil’s X ban,” is shown here in its most unaltered form.
Following the ruling issued by the Supreme Court of the country to internet service providers to restrict access to X, the platform was generally unavailable across the country by the time Sunday night rolled around. Since that time, the only options to access X have been through virtual private networks (VPNs) (for those who are ready to risk incurring enormous fines) and Starlink, which is a satellite internet service that is also managed by Elon Musk, the owner of X.
According to a story by The New York Times, the president of Brazil’s telecom agency, Anatel, stated that Starlink refused to comply with the court ruling until officials released its assets that had been blocked. The local bank accounts of Starlink, which is a subsidiary of SpaceX, were also banned by Alexandre de Moraes, the justice of the Supreme Court who has been on the offensive against X. Moraes, who has accused X of spreading hate speech and disinformation, is claimed to have done so with the intention of collecting $3 million in fines that have been assessed against X for disobeying his instructions to remove certain accounts. Moraes has accused X of doing this.
Starlink submitted a plea to the court requesting that its assets be unblocked; however, the court denied the petition. Elon Musk referred to the Starlink account freezing as “illegal,” noting that SpaceX and X are two distinct organizations, while also asserting that he owns forty percent of the former.
In Brazil, there are over 250,000 customers belonging to Starlink. It has been demonstrated that the service is well-liked in the Amazon region, particularly among indigenous communities and rural areas. Starlink has committed to providing its Brazilian clients with free internet access, despite the fact that its accounts in the nation continue to be blocked.
It is possible that Brazil will cancel the license for the internet service if Starlink continues to maintain its position on X. In the event that it continues to function after that point, the authorities have the ability to take equipment from 23 ground stations. Starlink is able to enhance the quality of its satellite connections with the guidance of the equipment.
In the meantime, at a trial that took place on Monday, a majority of a Supreme Court panel upheld the X ban that Moraes issued after Musk disobeyed many of his instructions. It will be possible for X to file an appeal against the ruling. An order issued by Moraes to impose a daily fine of 50,000 Brazilian Real (about $8,900) on anyone who is caught using a virtual private network (VPN) to access X in Brazil was also approved by the panel.