Earlier in the week, there was a stunning reversal from the Elon Musk-owned satellite internet operator, Starlink, regarding its operations in Brazil. In an initial letter to Brazil’s telecom regulator, Anatel, the company expressed opposition to a court order compelling the company to block access to the social network X.com within the country. The following day, Starlink had a change of heart and announced it would comply with the decision made by the Brazilian Supreme Court.
Background on the case
The order, by Brazil’s top court, Judge Alexandre de Moraes instructed all internet providers, including Starlink, to block access to X in Brazil. This was a result of the platform not having a legal representative in the country. Also as ordered, the court had tried freezing Starlink’s accounts as possibly covering the fines associated with X, also owned by Musk.
RELATED
- X (Twitter) shuts down operations in Brazil amidst legal controversy
- Bluesky hits all-time highs and tops charts following Brazil’s ban on X (Twitter)
- Pavel Durov arrested at Paris airport: Telegram founder faces legal challenges
- Cardless ATM transactions? RBI’s new UPI interoperable cash deposit feature makes it possible!
Starlink’s compliance with Brazil’s social media block
On Tuesday, Starlink said it would comply with the Supreme Court ruling. On X (formerly Twitter), the company said, “Regardless of the illegal treatment of Starlink in freezing our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil.” Starlink has more than 200,000 customers in Brazil (Via CNBC) and started to put in the block mandated.
Anatel confirmed (via Reuters) that Starlink has indeed started blocking access to X to comply with the court order. It clearly shows how policy changes bring to light the complexity of regulatory compliance for global technology companies.