Brazil freezes bank account of billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink company

A day after warning of shutting down social media platform X if it did not comply with court orders, on August 29, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of Starlink Satellite Internet Service in the country.

Starlink is a subsidiary of the space company SpaceX owned by American billionaire Elon Musk.

The confrontation stems from platform X's failure to comply with court orders to block several accounts accused of spreading misinformation and hate speech.

Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes on August 28 warned that he would suspend the operations of social network X in the country if billionaire Musk did not appoint a legal representative for X in Brazil within 24 hours.

The deadline to make the above request is before 8:00 p.m. on August 29 local time (6:00 a.m. on August 30 Vietnam time).

Then on August 29, Starlink said it had received an order from Judge Moraes that the company's bank accounts be frozen and that it cannot conduct financial transactions in Brazil.

Starlink in Brazil criticized the order as “based on an unfounded decision” that the company was liable for fines imposed on another company, social network X.

Starlink said it would take legal action to counter the freeze.

Under Brazilian law, all tech companies must have a legal representative in the country to receive judicial orders and be legally responsible for the business.

Observers say the court's decision will have serious consequences for both Starlink and X. The freezing of Starlink's bank accounts will greatly affect the company's business in Brazil, especially in the field of providing satellite Internet services in the Amazon region.

Meanwhile, the risk of X platform being shut down in Brazil would be a heavy blow to billionaire Musk's business empire and reduce the influence of this social network in one of the potential markets in the world.