Elon Musk announced that SpaceX will provide free Starlink internet to schools in Brazil despite the Brazilian government’s decision to suspend all contracts with the company.
In 2022, Elon Musk and the Brazilian government were in talks to bring Starlink services into the company. Musk met with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that year. By May 2022, the SpaceX CEO shared his excitement for the launch of Starlink to over 19,000 unconnected schools in Brazil’s rural areas.
Musk and the Brazilian government were also discussing ways to detect illegal deforestation activities by providing a Starlink connection to the lease-served people in Brazil.
Recently, Musk clashed with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who initiated a probe into Elon Musk as the Chief Technology Officer of X. Musk is being investigated for possible obstruction of justice after he defied court orders to restrict or suspend a few accounts on X.
Based on Musk’s words, X initially followed the court orders. However, Judge Moraes continued to order heavy fines, threatened to arrest employees and cut off access in Brazil. So, the social media platform decided to lift all restrictions.
“As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit,” Musk wrote in an X post.
Moraes is a proponent of regulations that protect people from harmful content and misinformation in Brazil. The judge often clashes with tech companies and far-right officials in Brazil. He also butted heads with former President Jair Bolsonaro in the past.
Musk has called for Judge Moraes’ resignation or impeachment, claiming the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice has broken country law. The X CTO announced he would publish information about Moraes and explain how he violated Brazilian law.
“Coming shortly, will publish everything demanded by [Judge Moraes] and how those requests violate Brazilian law. This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached. Shame [Judge Moraes], shame,” Musk wrote in an X post.
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