Brazilian Supreme Court Seizes $3.3 Million in Fines against Elon Musk
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Brazilian Supreme Court has lifted the freeze on the bank accounts of X and Starlink, following the withdrawal of $3.3 million to enforce a fine against Elon Musk's social media platform.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes had previously banned X's operations in Brazil at the end of August and frozen Starlink’s assets, labeling it as part of a "de facto economic group" with X.
“With the full payment of the amount due, (de Moraes) considered that there was no longer any need to keep the bank accounts blocked and ordered the immediate unblocking of the bank accounts/financial assets, motor vehicles, and real estate of the aforementioned companies,” the court said in a statement on Friday.
According to the court, 18.35 million Brazilian reals (approximately $3.3 million) was seized from both accounts, with 11 million reals taken from Starlink and the remainder from X.
The companies were fined for "failing to remove content after a court order in ongoing investigations" and for "removing their legal representatives from Brazil," the court stated.
Musk has yet to comment on the seizure of funds, though he previously described the freezing of Starlink’s accounts as "absolutely illegal," arguing that Starlink is a separate company with different shareholders. He also threatened to retaliate against Brazilian state assets.
“Unless the Brazilian government returns the illegally seized property of X and SpaceX, we will seek reciprocal seizure of government assets too,” Musk wrote earlier this month, adding, “Hope Lula enjoys flying commercial,” referring to Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva.
De Moraes has also warned of a fine of 50,000 Brazilian reals ($8,874) per day for anyone using a virtual private network (VPN) to access X. However, there have been no reports of the fine being enforced, and several prominent Brazilians, including political parties, continue posting on the platform.
The dispute between Musk and Brazilian authorities began in April when de Moraes ordered X to delete the accounts of several supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, accusing them of spreading "disinformation" about him and the court. Musk refused, arguing this would violate Brazilian laws.
X’s Global Government Affairs team claimed that de Moraes had threatened to imprison their Brazilian legal representative and froze her bank accounts even after she resigned. The judge then cited the absence of legal counsel as the reason for the fine and the ban on the platform’s operations.
“Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders,” X stated at the time.