Musk’s Starlink Defies Order to Block X in Brazil

Elon Musk is doubling down on his fight with the Brazilian authorities.

For weeks, the billionaire has refused to comply with Brazilian court orders to suspend certain accounts on his social network, X. He ignored fines and then fired X employees in Brazil so courts couldn’t hold them accountable. And then, after Brazil's Supreme Court ordered X blocked in the country, he suggested that Brazilians use software to circumvent the ban, despite the risk of large fines that a judge has threatened to impose for doing so.

Now he is defying the Brazilian government again. Starlink — the satellite-internet service controlled by Mr. Musk that has 250,000 customers in Brazil — told the country’s telecom agency on Sunday that it would not comply with orders to block X, the agency’s president said.

The retort further escalated a dispute that has already had consequences for millions of Brazilians and for Mr. Musk’s business — and it suggested that Mr. Musk is not prepared to back down anytime soon.

The move also illustrated the sheer power of Mr. Musk and his business empire. Having built or bought leading companies with increasing control over how people connect and communicate, Mr. Musk is trying to leverage that influence to confront authorities and challenge laws he does not like.

Mr. Musk, X and SpaceX, the Musk-controlled company that runs Starlink, did not respond to requests for comment.

Alexandre de Moraes, the Brazilian Supreme Court justice who has led the action against X, froze Starlink’s assets in Brazil last week and blocked it from carrying out transactions in the country. He did so to try to collect on more than $3 million in fines against X for ignoring his orders to suspend accounts. Justice Moraes has accused X of spreading disinformation and hate speech.