Elon Musk’s Starlink said Thursday that it will pursue legal action after the Brazilian government froze its finances and prevented it from conducting financial transactions in the nation.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Musk have been locked in a feud since April over a dispute related to Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter. Moraes said he would investigate the billionaire for obstruction of justice after Musk pledged to defy a court order blocking some accounts on X. Musk’s company has claimed that Moraes threatened to arrest one of its legal representatives in Brazil if it didn’t comply.
As part of the feud, Moraes ordered that the assets of a “de facto economic group” under Musk’s control be frozen to guarantee X pays fines issued by Brazil’s courts, according to G1. Starlink, which is a subsidiary of Musk’s aerospace firm SpaceX and sells satellite internet services in Brazil, has confirmed that its assets have been frozen.
“This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X,” Starlink wrote in a post on X. “We intend to address the matter legally,” the company added, saying that it was not afforded due process under Brazilian laws.
In a statement posted to X, Musk said that SpaceX and X are two different companies with different shareholders. He added that he owns 40% of SpaceX and that “this absolutely illegal action by the dictator @alexandre improperly punishes other shareholders and the people of Brazil,” tagging Moraes’ account on X.
On Wednesday, the justice issued a summons alerting Musk he has until 7 p.m. ET Thursday to name a legal representative for the social media company. Under Brazilian law, social media companies are required to have a representative based in the country.
X’s global government affairs team on Thursday wrote that it expects Moraes to order X to be shut down, appearing to confirm that it had not complied with the summons. The company said it would publish all of Moraes’ “illegal demands” and related court filings in the coming days.
Banning X’s services in the country would likely take several days to receive court approval. A shutdown would likely require Moraes to order telecommunications companies to stop carrying X traffic, although users would be able to get around that through virtual private networks, according to Reuters.
As for Starlink, the firm says it serves more than 250,000 customers in Brazil, including small businesses and schools. Musk has said the firm will provide internet services for users in Brazil for free, since it can’t currently be paid. He also said the Brazilian military will have access to Starlink’s services.