MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

De Moraes collects X fines from Starlink accounts

Having collected the fines, De Moraes lifted the freezings of the bank accounts of companies linked to tycoon Elon Musk

Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre De Moraes ordered funds in the amount of R$ 18.3 million (around US$ 3.29 million) from the Internet Service Provider Starlink transferred to the Federal Government in payments for fines he imposed on the social media platform X for failing to comply with his ruling.

 X owner Elon Musk claims he only has a percentage of SpaceX (Starlink's parent company) and therefore the decision by the judge he calls “a dictator in a robe” violated the rights of other stockholders. “What could Starlink have done to avoid what another company did?” Law Scholar Lênio Streck wondered. The banks involved said they had complied with the judge's decision.

“After the payment of the full amount that was owed,“ De Moraes ”considered there was no need to keep the bank accounts frozen and ordered the immediate unfreezing of bank accounts/financial assets,” the STF said in a statement.

Although the measure was ordered Wednesday, it was not made public until Friday, Agencia Brasil explained. SpaceX appealed De Moraes' ruling but Justice Cristiano Zanin turned down the request.

Starlink's internet service reaches rural areas otherwise not covered by other providers. The company also has contracts with the Brazilian Armed Forces and the electoral courts.

On Aug. 17, Musk announced he was closing X's operations in Brazil after De Moraes' orders to suspend the accounts of users the magistrate found to be posting inconvenient content. The social media network had also been ordered by the judge to release data about some of its users. The magistrate's request was sent “beneath the table” and X was instructed not to disclose these facts, which Musk chose not to obey, citing freedom of speech rights.

De Moraes also banned X in Brazil after Musk’s decision to not have a legal representative in the South American country. The company has claimed that the controversial magistrate wanted someone to hold that position so that he could have someone to place under arrest as leverage to enforce his questionable rulings. The judge also set a US$ 8,900 daily fine for anyone using a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent the suspension. Since then, Brazil’s X users shifted to Threads and Bluesky.

On Sept 7, thousands of followers of former President Jair Bolsonaro marched through Paulist Avenue in Sao Paulo during the Independence Day celebrations to demand De Moraes' impeachment. He is also the judge who disenfranchised Bolsonaro for eight years, rendering him unable to run for office.