Elon Musk's X and Starlink to be fined more than $1 million per day for allegedly violating cease and desist orders in Brazil

By Alpha Photo

On September 19, 2024, the Brazilian Supreme Court decided to impose a fine of 5 million Brazilian reals (approximately 130 million yen) per day on X and Starlink, owned by Elon Musk, for allegedly violating judicial orders. If X fails to pay the fine, Starlink will be held jointly liable and SpaceX will also be obligated to pay the fine.

STF aplica multa diária de R$ 5 milhões ao
https://noticias.stf.jus.br/postsnoticias/stf-aplica-multa-diaria-de-r-5-milhoes-ax-por-descumprimento-de-decisao-judicial/

Elon Musk's X and Starlink face daily fines in Brazil for ban evasion
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/19/elon-musks-x-and-starlink-face-daily-fines-in-brazil-for-ban-evasion.html

The incident began when Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the deletion of influencer accounts for allegedly spreading fake news about the government of Brazilian President Lula, a decision that X and Elon Musk voiced their opposition to.

Elon Musk challenges Brazilian Supreme Court decision ordering blocking of certain accounts on X (formerly Twitter) - GIGAZINE

As a result, the relationship between X, Elon Musk, and the Brazilian Supreme Court rapidly deteriorated , and X announced that it would end its operations in Brazil 'in response to the illegal censorship by Judge Moraes.'

Twitter (formerly Twitter) announces it will end operations in Brazil to counter censorship by Brazilian Supreme Court judge - GIGAZINE

However, the service itself continued to be provided in Brazil even after X withdrew its Brazilian corporation, and the Supreme Court ordered X to suspend the service.

Brazilian Supreme Court orders X to suspend service in the country - GIGAZINE

Judge de Moraes ordered X's Brazilian subsidiary to pay a fine of 5 million reais (approximately 135 million yen) for each day it failed to comply with the suspension order, effective September 19, 2024, with the total amount calculated based on the number of days the order was violated.

The decision also imposes joint and several liability on Starlink, meaning that if X does not make payments, SpaceX, which operates Starlink, will be held subsidiarily liable.

In addition, Judge de Moraes ordered Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency to take immediate measures to block access to X from content delivery networks (CDNs) such as Cloudflare, after Musk expressed the idea of switching his services to be delivered through a CDN to avoid being blocked by the suspension order. The National Telecommunications Agency is required to report these measures to the Supreme Court within 24 hours of the order being issued.

Elon Musk discovers a way to get around the ban on X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil - GIGAZINE

'We expect that X will again be inaccessible in Brazil in the near future, but we continue to work with the Brazilian government to bring it back very quickly for the Brazilian people,' an X spokesperson told CNBC.