Elon Musk’s battle for free speech is getting expensive

De Moraes levied the fines against X after the company refused to appoint a legal representative to respond to government requests to remove accounts or specific posts on the platform. The targeted accounts were affiliated with “digital militias” that de Moraes says have been methodically spreading misinformation supporting ousted far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.

“After the payment of the full amount that was owed, the justice considered there was no need to keep the bank accounts frozen and ordered the immediate unfreezing of bank accounts/financial assets,” the Brazilian Supreme Court’s statement said.

The company accounts, which had been frozen, have been reinstated. Still, the seizure indicates that Musk will face significant financial costs to sustain battles over his stated goal of protecting free speech online.

Musk himself has a far-from-perfect track record on protecting speech rights — including complying with requests to restrict content from the increasingly authoritarian governments of Turkey and India — but even the most reluctant supporters of Musk say he has a point in Brazil, as the Brazilian justice has taken a more extreme stance to address disinformation than other democratic leaders.

Some of the far-right groups de Moraes has sought to restrict online have argued that Bolsonaro’s loss in the 2022 election was caused by election interference and supported a mob that stormed Brazil’s Congress to start a military coup that would have seized control of the country’s government.

Like the US, Brazil has enshrined speech protections in its constitution, but the Brazilian government has wider discretion to ban certain kinds of speech than the US government.

Musk has countered that the individuals targeted by de Moraes’ legal actions have not been convicted of a crime, and therefore, the Brazilian judge’s attempts to restrict their online activity amount to censorship. In retaliation for the actions taken against X, Musk has goaded the Brazilian justice online, comparing him to Lord Voldemort from the “Harry Potter” franchise and suggesting de Moraes’ legal orders amount to violations of Brazilian law that should lead to the judge’s imprisonment.

What does this have to do with Starlink?

The battle between Musk and de Moraes has escalated for months, leading to the seizure of funds from X and SpaceX. While the connection between the social media site’s legal woes and the satellite communications company’s responsibility for the former’s fines is tenuous, de Moraes has dragged both companies owned by Musk into the fray.

Musk’s refusal to comply with court orders to remove specific content from his social media platform led to de Moraes threatening to issue an arrest decree against Rachel Nova Conceicao, a representative for X, prompting Musk to close X’s office in Brazil.

De Moraes then ordered X banned from Brazil — a demand that SpaceX’s Starlink initially refused to comply with before reversing course and blocking access to the platform from its constellation of internet-providing satellites after its license to operate in the country was threatened. Other internet service providers in the country readily complied with de Moraes’ order to block the platform, avoiding similar actions by the judge.

Legal analysts have questioned de Moraes’ move to force Starlink to pay fines levied on X, given that the companies’ only connection is that the same person owns them.

“Starlink is a different company. Belonging to the same economic group doesn’t mean it is also responsible for a debt it did not take part of. It didn’t even have a chance to defend itself,” The Associated Press reported Brazilian jurist Lênio Streck said on social media. “What could Starlink have done to avoid what other company did?”

Representatives for X and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.