Starlink says will comply with judge's order to block X in Brazil

Elon Musk's satellite-based internet service provider Starlink said Tuesday that it will comply with a Brazilian Supreme Court justice's order to block the billionaire's social media platform X.

Starlink said in a statement posted on X that it will heed Justice Alexandre de Moraes' order despite him having frozen the company's assets. Previously, it had informally told the telecommunications regulator that it would not comply until de Moraes reversed course.

"Regardless of the illegal treatment of Starlink in freezing our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil," the company statement said. "We continue to pursue all legal avenues, as are others who agree that @alexandre's recent order violate the Brazilian constitution."

Moraes froze Starlink's accounts last week as a means to compel it to cover X's fines that already exceeded $3 million, reasoning that the two companies are part of the same economic group. Starlink filed an appeal, its law firm Veirano told the Associated Press on August 30, but has declined to comment further in the days since.

Days later, the justice ordered the suspension of X for refusing to name a local legal representative, as required in order to receive notifications of court decisions and swiftly take any requisite action – particularly, in X's case, the takedown of accounts. A Supreme Court panel unanimously upheld the block on Monday.

X has clashed with Moraes over its reluctance to block users – mostly far-right activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy and allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro – and has alleged that Moraes wants an in-country legal representative so that Brazilian authorities can exert leverage over the company by having someone to arrest. And Musk has been relentlessly posting in recent days, lambasting Moraes as a criminal.

"This evil tyrant is a disgrace to judges' robes," Musk wrote on X along with a photo of Moraes some 17 hours before Starlink announced its decision to comply with the order.

He hasn't posted about the company's operations in Brazil since its announcement.

(With input from AP)