Elon Musk, the CEO of X Corp, SpaceX, and Tesla, blasted Brazil's highest court judge on August 29th for blocking the bank accounts of the Starlink internet firm. In a series of X postings, Musk referred to Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes as "an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge" and a "outright criminal of the worst kind" who is a "tyrant".
Elon Musk also chastised Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, calling him Moraes' "lapdop".
This follows Brazil Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes' judgment freezing Starlink's funds and prohibiting the company from conducting financial transactions in Brazil.
Notably, X's Global Government Affairs team issued a statement on August 30th claiming that they expect an order from Judge Moraes to shut down X in Brazil, "simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents."
Moraes allegedly notified X that their legal counsel would be imprisoned, and her financial accounts had been blocked despite her resignation. X Corp also accused Judge Moraes of violating Brazilian laws via his actions in the case.
Read More: Is Elon Musk moving SpaceX and X headquarters from California to Texas?
"When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian counsel with imprisonment. Even after she left, he closed her financial accounts. Our complaints about his clearly illegal activities were either neglected or ignored. Judge de Moraes' colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to contradict him. We are not demanding that other nations follow the same free speech legislation as the United States. The fundamental problem here is Judge de Moraes' suggestion that we violate Brazil's own laws. "We simply will not do that," X Corp's Global Government Affairs team said.
As another example, "X Corp's Global Government Affairs team announced that they will publish all of Judge de Moraes' illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency."
On Wednesday, Judge Moraes threatened to prohibit X from functioning in the nation until it establishes a legal representation. The Supreme Court issued a 24-hour deadline for Elon Musk's social networking site to select a legal representation for Brazil. Notably, Brazilian law requires all internet companies to have a legal agent in the nation who may receive court orders and react appropriately.
Elon Musk expressed his dissatisfaction with the 'ultimatum' by posting an AI-generated image of a person behind bars that resembled Judge de Moraes and writing, "One day, Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real." "Mark my words."
Why did the Brazilian court order the freeze of Elon Musk's company accounts?
Judge Alexandre de Moraes has ordered "the freezing of all financial assets" of Musk's Brazilian firms, including SpaceX-owned Starlink, in order "to guarantee the payment of fines" levied on X. Starlink, SpaceX's brainchild, has challenged the ruling, claiming that making Starlink liable for penalties levied "unconstitutionally" on X is illegitimate. Furthermore, Starlink claimed that this verdict was made in secret, denying it the legal due process guaranteed by the Brazilian constitution.
"Earlier this week, we received an order from Brazil's Supreme Court Justice @alexandre de Moraes freezing Starlink's funds and prohibiting them from doing financial operations in the nation. "This verdict is based on an erroneous determination that Starlink should be held accountable for the unlawful fines imposed on X," the business said. "It was given in secret, denying Starlink due process under Brazil's Constitution. "We intend to pursue legal action," Starlink said on X.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk said that Starlink and X Corp are two separate entities with distinct sets of owners, and that he owns 40% of Starlink, making it unlawful for Judge de Moraes to "punish" other investors.
"SpaceX and X are two completely different companies with separate shareholders." "I own roughly 40% of SpaceX, so the dictator @alexandre's absolutely illegal action unfairly punishes other shareholders and the people of Brazil," Musk said on Instagram.
In another X post, Musk emphasized the importance of Starlink in Brazil, pointing out that many remote schools and hospitals depend on it. He also said that SpaceX would provide free internet until the issue is resolved, since the company is unable to collect payments.
"Many rural schools and hospitals rely on SpaceX's Starlink! SpaceX will provide Internet access to Brazilian consumers for free until this issue is resolved, since we are unable to collect money but do not want to disconnect anybody," Musk stated.
Starlink is a satellite internet service that provides internet connection to remote places throughout the globe. It is currently approved for commercial usage in 105 countries, including Brazil.
In Brazil, there are about 171.2 million active social media users in 2022. This accounts for around 79.9% of the target demographics. The number of users increased by 14.3% between 2021 and 2022, according to Oosga.
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Elon Musk, the CEO of X Corp, SpaceX, and Tesla, blasted Brazil's highest court judge on August 29th for blocking the bank accounts of the Starlink internet firm. In a series of X postings, Musk referred to Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes as "an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge" and a "outright criminal of the worst kind" who is a "tyrant".
Elon Musk also chastised Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, calling him Moraes' "lapdop".
This follows Brazil Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes' judgment freezing Starlink's funds and prohibiting the company from conducting financial transactions in Brazil.
Notably, X's Global Government Affairs team issued a statement on August 30th claiming that they expect an order from Judge Moraes to shut down X in Brazil, "simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents."
Moraes allegedly notified X that their legal counsel would be imprisoned, and her financial accounts had been blocked despite her resignation. X Corp also accused Judge Moraes of violating Brazilian laws via his actions in the case.
Read More: Is Elon Musk moving SpaceX and X headquarters from California to Texas?
"When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian counsel with imprisonment. Even after she left, he closed her financial accounts. Our complaints about his clearly illegal activities were either neglected or ignored. Judge de Moraes' colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to contradict him. We are not demanding that other nations follow the same free speech legislation as the United States. The fundamental problem here is Judge de Moraes' suggestion that we violate Brazil's own laws. "We simply will not do that," X Corp's Global Government Affairs team said.
As another example, "X Corp's Global Government Affairs team announced that they will publish all of Judge de Moraes' illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency."
On Wednesday, Judge Moraes threatened to prohibit X from functioning in the nation until it establishes a legal representation. The Supreme Court issued a 24-hour deadline for Elon Musk's social networking site to select a legal representation for Brazil. Notably, Brazilian law requires all internet companies to have a legal agent in the nation who may receive court orders and react appropriately.
Elon Musk expressed his dissatisfaction with the 'ultimatum' by posting an AI-generated image of a person behind bars that resembled Judge de Moraes and writing, "One day, Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real." "Mark my words."
Why did the Brazilian court order the freeze of Elon Musk's company accounts?
Judge Alexandre de Moraes has ordered "the freezing of all financial assets" of Musk's Brazilian firms, including SpaceX-owned Starlink, in order "to guarantee the payment of fines" levied on X. Starlink, SpaceX's brainchild, has challenged the ruling, claiming that making Starlink liable for penalties levied "unconstitutionally" on X is illegitimate. Furthermore, Starlink claimed that this verdict was made in secret, denying it the legal due process guaranteed by the Brazilian constitution.
"Earlier this week, we received an order from Brazil's Supreme Court Justice @alexandre de Moraes freezing Starlink's funds and prohibiting them from doing financial operations in the nation. "This verdict is based on an erroneous determination that Starlink should be held accountable for the unlawful fines imposed on X," the business said. "It was given in secret, denying Starlink due process under Brazil's Constitution. "We intend to pursue legal action," Starlink said on X.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk said that Starlink and X Corp are two separate entities with distinct sets of owners, and that he owns 40% of Starlink, making it unlawful for Judge de Moraes to "punish" other investors.
"SpaceX and X are two completely different companies with separate shareholders." "I own roughly 40% of SpaceX, so the dictator @alexandre's absolutely illegal action unfairly punishes other shareholders and the people of Brazil," Musk said on Instagram.
In another X post, Musk emphasized the importance of Starlink in Brazil, pointing out that many remote schools and hospitals depend on it. He also said that SpaceX would provide free internet until the issue is resolved, since the company is unable to collect payments.
"Many rural schools and hospitals rely on SpaceX's Starlink! SpaceX will provide Internet access to Brazilian consumers for free until this issue is resolved, since we are unable to collect money but do not want to disconnect anybody," Musk stated.
Starlink is a satellite internet service that provides internet connection to remote places throughout the globe. It is currently approved for commercial usage in 105 countries, including Brazil.
In Brazil, there are about 171.2 million active social media users in 2022. This accounts for around 79.9% of the target demographics. The number of users increased by 14.3% between 2021 and 2022, according to Oosga.