Elon Musk attacks Brazil’s top judge as X faces ban, Starlink finances frozen

Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp. leader Elon Musk ramped up his online attacks on Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes on Thursday, amid an intensifying political and legal battle between the tech billionaire and his companies, and Brazil’s highest court.

De Moraes’ court announced on Wednesday that it was ordering Musk and X Corp. to appoint a legal representative for the social media company, formerly known as Twitter, in Brazil within 24 hours, or X would face “penalty of suspension of activities” there.

A suspension of X in Brazil could cause serious business problems for the already embattled social network. Brazil has a population of more than 171 million active social media users, according to market research by Oosga.

The nation is preparing for October municipal elections. And under Brazil’s laws, social networks there have to employ someone who can receive and consider government takedown notices about political misinformation.

X has no such employee in Brazil, after the company said it was removing all its employees from the country earlier this month.

On Wednesday night, Musk posted a manipulated image that appeared to show the judge behind bars. “One day, @Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words,” Musk wrote to de Moraes and Musk’s 195.8 million listed followers on X.

On Thursday, reports from G1 Globo in Brazil had revealed that de Moraes had ordered “the freezing of all financial assets” of Musk’s companies in Brazil, including SpaceX-owned Starlink, to “guarantee the payment of fines” the court had levied against X.

“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,” the company said in a post late Wednesday.

“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 is a satellite internet service operated by SpaceX. It is now approved for commercial operations in 105 countries, including Brazil. Starlink has advertised on X under Musk’s management and Musk has encouraged people in Brazil to use Starlink to access X.

Musk, X Corp. CEO Linda Yaccarino and representatives for SpaceX did not respond to CNBC’s request for further information on Thursday afternoon.

On Thursday, Musk called de Moraes “an outright criminal,” who is only “masquerading as a judge,” in a post on X. The tech billionaire continued, “The tyrant, @Alexandre, is dictator of Brazil. Lula is his lapdog,” referring to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was elected President of Brazil in 2022, defeating the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro is a long-time Musk ally, and his administration granted Musk the right to operate Starlink in Brazil and awarded Musk with a medal in recognition of his contributions to the country. Bolsonaro’s right-wing supporters have become visible fans of the tech billionaire.

De Moraes’ critics view him as a censor, overstepping the bounds of his role. Supporters salute his court’s efforts to stem harmful misinformation online in Brazil.

Earlier this year, on April 7, judge de Moraes initiated an investigation into Musk and X Corp. over their alleged obstruction of justice.

While Musk had announced that he would defy the Brazil court’s orders to restrict or suspend some popular accounts on X, by April 15, lawyers representing the social network told the Brazil Supreme Court that they would actually comply with the court’s orders.

De Moraes’ court is also investigating Musk and X as part of a broader inquiry into so-called digital militias in Brazil, people accused of spreading misinformation online with the aim of attacking democratic institutions in the country.

X Corp. was subpoenaed by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee to share information on orders from the Brazil court concerning content moderation. The Republican-controlled committee, concerned about censorship, released information about Brazil court orders asking X to suspend or remove around 150 user accounts from its platform in recent years.