On the 29th of August, Elon Musk, the owner of X Corp, SpaceX and Tesla, slammed Brazil’s top court judge for freezing the bank accounts of the Starlink internet company. In a series of X posts, Musk referred to Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes as “an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge” and an “outright criminal of the worst kind” who is a “tyrant”.
This guy @Alexandre is an outright criminal of the worst kind, masquerading as a judge https://t.co/l5zZ7gplSI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2024
Elon Musk also lambasted President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva calling him Moraes’s “lapdop”.
The tyrant, @Alexandre, is dictator of Brazil. Lula is his lapdog. https://t.co/svONz3iv5S
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2024
This comes following Brazil Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes’s order freezing Starlink’s finances and barred the company from undertaking financial operations in Brazil.
Notably, X’s Global Government Affairs team issued a statement on the 30th of August stating that they anticipate an order from Judge Moraes to shut down X in Brazil, “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”
It further alleged that Moraes threatened X that their legal representative would be imprisoned adding that her bank accounts have been frozen even as she has resigned. X Corp also accused Judge Moraes of violating Brazilian laws with his conduct in the matter.
“When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts. Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him. We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States. The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that,” X Corp’s Global Government Affairs team said.
Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents. These enemies include a duly elected Senator and a 16-year-old girl, among others.
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) August 29, 2024
When we attempted…
Moreover, “X Corp’s Global Government Affairs team announced that they will “publish all of Judge de Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency.”
On Wednesday, Judge Moraes had threatened to bar X from operating in the country unless the corporation appoints a legal representative. The Supreme Court gave a 24-hour ultimatum to Elon Musk-owned social media platform to name a legal representative for Brazil. Notably, Brazilian law necessitates all internet businesses to have a legal representative in the country who is authorised to receive judicial orders and respond legally.
Expressing his discontent over the ‘ultimatum’, Elon Musk posted an AI-generated image of a man behind bars resembling Judge de Moraes and wrote, “One day, Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words.”
Why did the Brazilian judge order the freezing of the accounts of Elon Musk’s companies?
Judge Alexandre de Moraes has ordered “the freezing of all financial assets” of Musk’s companies in Brazil which include SpaceX-owned Starlink, in order “to guarantee the payment of fines” imposed by the court on X. SpaceX brainchild Starlink, however, has deemed this order saying that holding Starlink responsible for fines “unconstitutionally” imposed on X is illegal. Moreover, Starlink alleged that this ruling was given in secret without allowing Starlink legal due process guaranteed by the Brazilian constitution.
“Earlier this week we received an order from Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice @alexandre de Moraes that freezes Starlink’s finances and prevents Starlink from conducting financial transactions in that country. This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X,” the company said. “It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to address the matter legally,” Starlink said on X.
Today, Starlink is connecting more than a quarter million customers in Brazil—from the Amazon to Rio de Janeiro—including small businesses, schools, and first responders, among many others. We are proud of the impact Starlink is making in communities across the country, and the…
— Starlink (@Starlink) August 29, 2024
Meanwhile, Elon Musk said that Starlink and X Corp are two different companies with different sets of shareholders and he owns 40% of Starlink, thus, it is illegal for Judge de Moraes to “punish” other shareholders.
“SpaceX and X are two completely different companies with different shareholders. I own about 40% of SpaceX, so this absolutely illegal action by the dictator @alexandre improperly punishes other shareholders and the people of Brazil,” Musk said.
SpaceX and X are two completely different companies with different shareholders. I own about 40% of SpaceX, so this absolutely illegal action by the dictator @alexandre improperly punishes other shareholders and the people of Brazil. https://t.co/zIzcT0BTJl
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2024
In another X post, Musk highlighted the importance of Starlink in Brazil and said that many remote schools and hospitals rely on Starlink. He also announced that SpaceX will provide free internet until this matter is resolved since the company cannot receive payments.
“Many remote schools and hospitals depend on SpaceX’s Starlink! SpaceX will provide Internet service to users in Brazil for free until this matter is resolved, as we cannot receive payment, but don’t want to cut anyone off,” Musk posted.
Many remote schools and hospitals depend on SpaceX’s Starlink!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2024
SpaceX will provide Internet service to users in Brazil for free until this matter is resolved, as we cannot receive payment, but don’t want to cut anyone off. https://t.co/BHlPpbsKR6
For the unversed, Starlink is a satellite internet service that delivers internet access to remote areas around the world. It has now been authorised for commercial use in 105 countries, including Brazil.
In Brazil, there are about 171.2 million active social media users in 2022. This is about 79.9 % of the addressable demographics. It has been found that between 2021 to 2022, the number of users has surged by 14.3%, as per Oosga.
What brought Judge Alexandre de Moraes and Elon Musk at loggerheads?
Incidentally, the whole dispute started in April this year, when a Supreme Court judge from Brazil Alexandre de Moraes started an investigation into the entrepreneur after Elon Musk stated that he would reinstate accounts on the social media site X that the judge had disabled.
Being a free speech absolutist, Elon Musk contested Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ decision to block specific accounts. Back then he said that X would abolish all restrictions because they were unconstitutional, and called for Moraes’ resignation. While earlier it was not revealed whose social media accounts were censored, it has not been found that these accounts include those of a Brazilian senator and a 16-year-old girl among others.
In April, Judge Moares had said that if X failed to comply with the decision to restrict particular accounts, the firm would be fined 100,000 reais ($19,740) every day. While the people were outraged over this, the leftist government in Brazil led by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva backed Moraes. Instead of paying the heavy fines, Musk decided to take up the matter legally.
As reported earlier, “Twitter Files” made several shocking revelations about how Judge Moraes and the Superior Electoral Court he supervises attempted to damage Brazilian democracy. Moraes had imprisoned people without trial for what they posted on social media. In addition, he called for the expulsion of users from social media platforms as well as removed individual posts without offering users an appeals process or even the ability to view the information provided against them.
Interestingly, the former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro had in May 2022 awarded Elon Musk Defense Order of Merit medal after Starlink launch negotiations. Musk also enjoys massive support among Brazil’s right wing.
Judge Moraes and his many controversial decisions
In September 2022, Judge Alexandre de Moraes was accused of foul play by Jair Bolsonaro and his party supporters when he authorised the Federal Police to conduct search and seize operations at locations linked to 8 businessmen who supported Bolsonaro. It was reported by the Brazilian media that the operations were allowed after a news report shared alleged leaked WhatsApp chats of these businessmen advocating a coup if Lula da Silva emerges victorious in the elections. In a ruling that invited severe backlash, Moraes had summoned the 8 businessmen and allowed access to their private bank records, alongside ordering the blocking of their social media handles and freezing their assets. Moraes has also delivered rulings censoring news articles that appeared to be against President Lula.
It is not clear how someone guessing her email password is our responsibility
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2023
It is interesting to recall that back in December 2023, the X account of Brazilian first lady Rosangela ‘Janja’ Lula da Silva was hacked and several derogatory comments against her were posted from the account. Days later, Janja had declared that she would file a lawsuit against Musk either in Brazil or in the US even as Elon Musk denied any role in the hacking of her X account. “It is not clear how someone guessing her email password is our responsibility,” Musk said back then.
