SAO PAULO (AP) — Elon Musk’s satellite-based internet service provider Starlink backtracked Tuesday and said 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 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.”

  • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Pussy. Go on, Elon. Make your companies play chicken with a national government. I’m sure every other national government out there will definitely back you up, because making a company above the law (without paying the requisite bribes) is DEFINITELY something that national governments want to normalize!

    • Blaine@lemmy.ml
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      1 month ago

      Starlink satellites are (quite literally) above the law. Until Brazil develops a space force to go seize them out of orbit, it seems like Elon can do whatever the fuck he wants.

      • zbyte64@awful.systems
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        1 month ago

        You can jam the signal with very little power, and you can prevent people in Brazil from paying for the service.

        • anivia@lemmy.ml
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          1 month ago

          and you can prevent people in Brazil from paying for the service.

          To be fair, Brazil tried that and Elmo just made starlink free for use in Brazil as retaliation. But obviously that’s not something he could do with every country on earth if he wants to make a profit

      • ayyy@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        The links require a station on the ground, and services must be paid for monthly. Those are two things a local government can control pretty effectively.

  • JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Typical. Send the lawyers first to intimidate. Then get told you have no case. Then walk back tail between legs.

  • trevor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 month ago

    That’s a bummer. I was hoping EU countries would be inspired by Brazil to actually enforce some of their laws and ban Twitter as well.

    Edit: as vxx pointed out, there is a positive way to interpret this outcome, and I was probably being needlessly pessimistic.

    • vxx@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Am I missing something? twitter is still blocked in brasil. The article is about starlink caving in and blocking it as well for brasilian users.

      EU might still block them once they decided he doesn’t comply with the law, and fines didn’t help.

      • trevor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 month ago

        Sorry. To clarify what I meant: the “bummer” is that I want the situation with Starlink, Twitter, and Brazil to result in the permanent downfall of that dogshit site, and severe fines for Starlink so that other countries can look toward Brazil as an example of how to deal with the kinds of social media sites that allow disinformation to propagate.

        The fact that Starlink has agreed to comply takes off some of the heat, and therefore leaves some of the territory of fully exploring the legal ramifications of holding reich-wing billionaire freaks somewhat accountable for the shit that their companies do unexplored. Yeah, it’s good that Twitter is still forbidden from operating in Brazil, but I would have liked for Musk to face more repercussions through Starlink as well.

        I hope that the EU still takes action against Twitter though, with or without any additional escalation involving Starlink.

        • vxx@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          I see it as a positive. Elon tried to strong arm the judge but they froze assets to show they’re not to be fucked with. It worked and the billionaire didn’t get away.

          Others can still take it as an inspiration or motivation.

    • Trailblazing Braille Taser@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      I feel pretty conflicted on this whole thing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hilarious seeing Elon squirm, but it’s disconcerting to see everyone cheering on government censorship of the internet.

      • trevor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 month ago

        Typically, I would agree. However, what is happening with Twitter and Brazil isn’t censorship; it’s Twitter refusing to appoint legal council to respond to any legal complaints within Brazil’s jurisdiction. Musk has made the conscious decision to have Twitter not be legally-compliant with Brazil’s laws, therefore Brazil doesn’t allow them to operate there.