Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has lifted the freeze on X and Starlink bank accounts after ordering the transfer of $3.3 million from the accounts to the national treasury. The court’s statement on Friday clarified that the lift came after the full amount owed by X in fines was transferred, resolving the financial penalties.
While the account freeze has been lifted, the court confirmed that Moraes has not reversed his decision to block access to X in Brazil. The platform’s failure to appoint a local legal representative and comply with the content removal orders remains unresolved.
These fines arose from a dispute between Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X and Starlink, and Moraes, who had ordered the social media platform to block certain accounts accused of spreading fake news and hate messages that allegedly posed a threat to democracy. Musk contested these orders, calling them obvious government censorship.
Moraes had previously ordered access to X, Brazil’s sixth-largest market, to be blocked when X failed to comply with these content removal orders and did not appoint a legal representative as required by Brazilian law. This non-compliance led the judge to freeze Starlink’s accounts as well, to cover potential fines owed by X.
