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Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has informed its staff they must not travel to Brazil as a feud between the tech mogul and the country’s Supreme Court Justice deepens.
Gwynne Shotwell, President at SpaceX, issued an email to staff last week in which she emphasized the “seriousness of this situation,” cautioning employees from traveling to the South American country.
In the email first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Shotwell advised staff to “avoid any travel — for work or personal reasons — to Brazil.”
SpaceX is also reportedly relocating several non-Brazilian staff out of the country. Meanwhile, X closed down offices in Brazil earlier in August in a move it said was to protect the safety of its employees.
Although Musk has developed a reputation for outlandish employment practices, the decision to warn against travel is not unusual. Organizations are free to caution staff against travel to or from countries or regions, though the waters are murkier for outright bans or penalties, particularly when it comes to personal travel.
Why are SpaceX workers being told not to travel to Brazil?
Alexandre de Moraes, one of Brazil’s top judges, has pushed for a ban on X, the social media company also owned by Musk, in his country.
Moraes claims X is harming democracy by serving as a platform for fake news and hate speech and has attempted to impose fines on the platform.
In the latest escalation of the feud which has been playing out across 2024, Moraes ordered the freezing of bank accounts owned by Starlink, a SpaceX unit that operates satellites, in a bid to make X pay the fines. The move was upheld by the country’s Supreme Court which reasoned that SpaceX and X are within the same economic group.
Starlink, which has over 250,000 customers in Brazil, pushed back on the legal action in a statement on X last week, claiming the order is an “unfounded determination” for which it has no responsibility.
The company added that the fines have been “unconstitutionally” imposed on X and said it will “address the matter legally.”
No clear path forward for SpaceX staff
What may happen next for SpaceX staff is unclear.
Although Starlink initially opposed Moraes’ move to block X in Brazil, the company announced Tuesday that it would backtrack on its stance and comply with the order.
“Regardless of the illegal treatment of Starlink in freezing our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil,” the company said in a statement on X.
“We continue to pursue all legal avenues, as are others who agree that @alexandre’s recent order violate the Brazilian constitution.”
SpaceX has not yet clarified to staff what this could mean for their travel to and from the country, or for the employees it was planning to relocate.
