SpaceX has cautioned its employees not to travel to Brazil amid an escalating feud between Elon Musk and a judge in the Latin American nation’s top court that is spreading across the billionaire’s companies.
In an e-mail to employees last week, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said she must “convey the seriousness of this situation” and that employees should “avoid any travel — for work or personal reasons — to Brazil”.
The e-mail was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which also noted that a small group of non-Brazilian SpaceX employees located in Brazil are being relocated out of the country.
A representative for SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The new travel limit is the latest fallout in a months-long feud between Musk, the world’s richest person, and supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is spearheading efforts to combat fake news and hate speech that he says are harming Brazil’s democracy.
Moraes has moved to ban Musk’s X social media platform — formerly known as Twitter — and blocked bank accounts of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite unit to enforce the payment of fines imposed on the X platform.
“This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied — unconstitutionally — against X,” Starlink said last week, adding it intends “to address the matter legally”.
It’s standard for companies to review their security protocols and caution employees from travelling to certain areas depending on changing dynamics with customers and foreign governments.
The supreme court’s order focused on two companies registered in Brazil: Starlink Brazil Holding and Starlink Brazil Servicos de Internet.
