(Bloomberg) — Brazil withdrew 18.35 million reais ($3.3 million) from the bank accounts of Elon Musk’s X and Starlink to pay for fines imposed by the Supreme Court, continuing a dispute that’s led to the blackout of the billionaire’s social-media service in the country.
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The court ordered the transfer of funds on Wednesday and the accounts have since been unfrozen, according to a statement from the judicial body released Friday.
Musk is mired in a bitter standoff with Brazil’s top judge, who is leading a campaign against fake news and hate speech in Latin America’s largest nation. Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the platform formerly known as Twitter be banned last month and blocked Starlink’s accounts in a bid to force the US technology impresario’s company to pay the penalties imposed for ignoring a previous order.
“The blocking of the accounts occurred because the justice considered the joint liability between X Brasil Internet Ltda., Starlink Brazil Holding Ltda. and Starlink Brazil Internet Services Ltda. for payment of fines,” the court said Friday.
Representatives for Musk’s companies didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
X remains banned in Brazil as it has yet to comply with orders from Moraes to block certain user accounts and to appoint a legal representative in the country.
The judge’s campaign is being portrayed as a dangerous example of state overreach and an attack on free speech, with the issue becoming a rallying cry for the billionaire’s right-leaning allies around the world.
(Updates with request for comment and additional context beginning in 5th paragraph. A previous version corrected the dollar amount in the headline and lead.)
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