The Brazilian Supreme Court’s decision to block X, formerly known as Twitter, has led another one of Elon Musk’s other companies, SpaceX, to pull its staff from the country.SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell reportedly emailed staff last week telling them not to travel to Brazil for work or personal reasons. The company is also moving its Brazil-based employees to another location, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the situation.SpaceX CEO Musk has said that Brazil seized some assets from SpaceX, Starlink, and X in the country as a result of the ongoing legal battle against X. Brazil levied a fine against X worth about $3 million because the social media platform refused to remove accounts the court deemed to be in violation of Brazilian laws. The accounts in question are accused of posting political disinformation that could impact Brazilian democracy. Some of the accounts are tied to the attack on Brazilian government buildings in January 2023, an incident that shares similarities with the US Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Hundreds of other accounts reportedly encouraged violence in schools.X previously closed its office in Brazil due to the legal conflict, which remains ongoing. Musk and X allege that Brazil’s Supreme Court is, in fact, the one breaking the law. Brazil’s Supreme Court began its investigation into X in April after Musk reinstated some of the accounts in question.
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Initially, SpaceX’s Starlink told a Brazilian telecom agency that it wouldn’t block X for its 250,000 customers in Brazil, thereby violating Brazil’s recently ratified X ban. But Starlink seems to have quickly reversed that stance, vowing this week to block the social media platform after all. Musk has since repeatedly attacked Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes over Brazil’s regulation of X. Last month, the platform started an official, company-affiliated account called “Alexandre Files” dedicated to criticizing de Moraes’ actions and accusing him of censorship.
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About Kate Irwin
Reporter
I’m a reporter covering early morning news. Prior to joining PCMag in 2024, I was a reporter and producer at Decrypt and launched its gaming vertical, GG. I have previous bylines with Input, Game Rant, and Dot Esports. I’ve been a PC gamer since The Sims (yes, the original). In 2020, I finally built my first PC with a 3090 graphics card, but also regularly use Mac and iOS devices as well. As a reporter, I’m passionate about uncovering scoops and documenting the wide world of tech and how it affects our daily lives.
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