“In Brazil, court orders are complied with,” says Lula’s minister

The Minister of Communications, Juscelino Filhosaid this Wednesday (September 4, 2024) that, “In Brazil, court orders are complied with”. The statement is in reference to the suspension of the social network X (formerly Twitter), determined by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of STF (Federal Supreme Court), last Friday (August 30). Initially, the order was not complied with by the satellite internet operator Starlink. Just like X, the company also belongs to Elon Musk.

“We have the Federal Constitution, we have laws to which all Brazilians are subject. And we will not allow a foreigner, whoever he may be, to come and confront our country.”, said the minister during his participation in the program “Good morning, minister”, on CanalGov.

The “foreigner“The person Juscelino referred to, without mentioning his name, is billionaire Elon Musk. According to the minister, in addition to failing to comply with the court order, Musk”it reaches the point of provoking, of confronting” national sovereignty. Therefore, “deserves all the repulsion from the Brazilian population and the country’s government”.

He continued: “We have national sovereignty, we have a democracy, we have the Powers, we have the legislation, we have the Constitution, which is obeyed by all. And it is not a subject with greater economic power, it is not a rich person from outside the country who will want to confront Brazil in this way. We will never allow this.”

Juscelino highlighted that the Ministry of Communications and the Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) are working to ensure that all internet operators comply with Moraes’ decision and block access to X, under penalty of fines and revocation of the service provision license in the country.

When asked about a possible suspension of Starlink operations in Brazil, Juscelino highlighted that the government knows “the importance of this satellite provider for the Amazon region, like many others”. However, he considered that Starlink is contracted, mostly, for personal use, and that institutional contracting – for use in schools and public bodies, for example – “is minimal”.

“We know that thousands of Brazilians use this service, but naturally, we cannot put this ahead of respect for Brazil, national sovereignty and judicial decisions that must be complied with.”, he said, citing the possibility of using the internet offered by Telebras.

COURT ORDER

The clash has intensified since August 17, when the profile of Global Government Relations of the X announced that it would close its office in Brazil, but that the social network would remain available to Brazilians. In the publication, the company said that the measure was taken because of Moraes’ decisions.

The document is part of a confidential process. It reads that Moraes requested the blocking of profiles that published messages “antidemocratic” or with hateful content against authorities – it is not clear what would constitute an infraction of Brazilian laws.

Musk’s company, however, did not comply with the orders. The Supreme Court minister then increased the fine and gave 24 hours to block the network, under penalty of arrest for disobeying the court order.

On August 28, Moraes ordered the company to identify a legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours or risk having its operations suspended throughout the country. The decision was not complied with.

On Friday (August 30), Moraes ordered the suspension of X in Brazil. Here is the full of the decision (PDF – 374 kB).

HOW STARLINK WORKS

According to Starlink, it offers high-speed internet, with low latency and available anywhere, even in the most remote locations. The company has been gaining more and more market share in Brazil and around the world.

Arm of the SpaceXa space exploration company also owned by Musk, the company uses satellites closer to Earth than its competitors, which makes data transfer and navigation faster.

With this technology, Starlink can bring fast internet to places where other forms of connection arrive slowly or do not even exist because they are economically unviable, such as rural areas, small towns and dense forests like the Amazon. It can also be used on boats on the high seas or on planes moving in the sky.

Currently, a consumer who wants to sign up for Starlink internet at home needs to pay between R$1,200 and R$2,400 for the equipment – ​​a kit with an antenna, router and cables. The monthly fee for the service costs R$184, according to the company’s website.

Prices vary according to the customer’s profile. For vessels, for example, the cost of equipment is R$12,830, and the monthly fee is R$1,283.

Watch Starlink’s own video explaining the technology (1min47s):

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