There is an ongoing trend of holding platform owners accountable for activities occurring on their social media platforms.
According to Yonhap News, a Brazilian court ordered the U.S. space company SpaceX to block its satellite internet service Starlink from conducting financial transactions in Brazil.
Reuters and Brazilian media outlet G1 reported that Alexandre de Moraes, the Chief Justice of Brazil’s Supreme Court, ordered the freezing of Starlink’s financial accounts in Brazil to execute a fine imposed on X, which is perceived to be under the de facto economic group, directed by Elon Musk.
Previously, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered X to block certain accounts that caused social chaos during former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration.
This move is part of investigations into so-called digital militias accused of spreading fake news and hate messages.
However, X resisted blocking specific popular accounts in Brazil, claiming it was coerced, and subsequently announced its withdrawal from Brazilian operations on August 17.
In response, the Brazilian Supreme Court sent X a document ordering it to appoint a legal representative and warning that failure to comply would result in a daily fine of $3,550.
According to G1, platform companies must have a legal representative in Brazil under Brazilian law, and failure to comply can lead to temporary suspension of their activities.
On the same day, Musk took to his X account to post a series of critical messages labeling De Moraes a tyrant, an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge, and an outright criminal of the worst kind.
Musk and De Moraes have publicly clashed over accepting the X-blocking legal order for several months.
Earlier this week, Starlink received Brazilian court documents related to the account freeze, claiming, “The decision was made secretly without providing us the due process guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution.”
Reuters reported that Starlink intends to take legal action against the Supreme Court’s decision, stating it is taking all possible measures to prevent service interruptions in Brazil.
X is one of the widely used online communication tools in Brazil.
In particular, during the upcoming elections in October, politicians actively use X to express their views or attack their opponents.
This issue of platform owners facing penalties based on non-intervention and non-cooperation in incidents occurring independently on their platforms has significantly fueled the debate on freedom of expression.
Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO and a Russian-born French citizen was recently arrested in France and later released.
In response, Russia stated, “If France’s claims are valid, then the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, who operates Facebook, should also be arrested and investigated.”
This argument highlights that various illegal activities and the spreading of misinformation occur on Facebook, similar to Telegram.
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