Brazil unfreezes Starlink, X bank accounts after ordering $3 million fines paid amid Musk legal battle
The move comes after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes upheld a usage ban on X within the country
Independent journalist Michael Shellenberger discusses how what is happening in Brazil with Elon Musk and X, formerly Twitter, is a cautionary tale for what could happen in the United States on ’The Bottom Line.’
Brazil’s top Supreme Court justice unfroze bank accounts of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service provider and social media platform X on Friday, after taking more than $3 million in fines imposed by the South American nation.
The move comes after Justice Alexandre de Moraes earlier this month upheld a ban on X within the country.
The temporary ban was imposed by the court in late August after Musk didn’t name a legal representative before a deadline in a case going back months in which the country demanded some social media platforms, including X, be suspended that had been implicated in probes of so-called digital militias accused of spreading misinformation and hate.
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Brazil’s top supreme court justice unfroze accounts of Elon Musk’s Starlink and X on Friday after taking $3 million in fines imposed by the country. (Reuters/Jorge Silva/File Photo / Reuters)
The court said Friday that the X ban in the county will remain in place until a legal representative is named.
Musk has called out de Moraes multiple times from his X account, saying that "he should be impeached for violating his oath of office" and it’s "only a matter of time before this criminal is behind bars," and calling him a "dictator."
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In the decision, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the full and immediate suspension of X in the country until all related court orders on X were complied with, including the payment of the fine and the nomination of a legal … (Ton Molina/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
He previously wrote: "X is the most used news source in Brazil. It is what the people want. Now, the tyrant de Voldemort is crushing the people’s right to free speech."
In the decision, de Moraes ordered the full and immediate suspension of X in the country until all related court orders on X were complied with, including the payment of the fine and the nomination of a legal representative in Brazil.
Musk posted on X that de Moraes "should be impeached for violating his oath of office." (Chesnot/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Musk owns X and 42% of Starlink’s parent company, SpaceX.
X did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.