Sept. 3 (UPI) — The Elon Musk-owned Starlink satellite Internet service said Tuesday it will abide by a court order to block social network X in Brazil while challenging the order in that nation’s courts.
Brazilian officials and courts have accused X of undermining democracy in Brazil, imposed fines and ordered Internet services in the nation to block access to X as the nation prepares for municipal elections being held in October.
Musk also owns X and SpaceX, which is the parent corporation of Starlink.
Blocking X on the Starlink Internet service enables Starlink to maintain its license in Brazil while attorneys for the social media service continue pursuing legal resolution in Brazilian courts.
“Following last week’s order … that froze Starlink’s finances and prevents Starlink from conducting financial transactions in Brazil, 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,” Starlink officials said in a post on X Tuesday.
“Regardless of the illegal treatment of Starlink in freezing our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil,” Starlink officials added.
A panel of five justices on Monday unanimously upheld a federal ban on X nationwide that was announced Saturday due to the social media platform lacking a designated legal representative in Brazil.
Freezing the assets of X in Brazil helps ensure it pays $3 million in fines that courts have levied, according to the five justices.
About 40 million of Brazil’s 215 million citizens used X, which has more than 550 million monthly users.
Brazil also has about 250,000 Starlink subscribers and is popular among the nation’s rural citizens and indigenous tribes in the Amazon region.