this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2024
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I've heard a couple versions of this story. One is the story in the post, the other is that Crimea was not covered by Starlink, and Ukraine tried to get it covered and Musk wouldn't.
Do we have a definitive source that can speak to which occurred?
From what I can gather from various sources (most detailed one here: https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-admits-thwarting-ukraine-attack-not-activating-starlink-satellites-2023-9?op=1)
I'm not sure which to believe. Isaacson's account is detailed and I doubt it's made up, but perhaps he misunderstood something. At the same time, turning it off seems to require Elon to have foreknowledge of the attack which seems unlikely, though plausible.
Issac corrected the story and said he was wrong. His stance is it was never on. Musk refused to turn it on.
So either Issac got it wrong and the correction is legit. Or Issac is now covering his ass and willing to lie, and lying would be bad for his credibility.
Ask the man himself
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4193788-musk-acknowledges-he-turned-off-starlink-internet-access-last-year-during-ukraine-attack-on-russia-military/
Ah yes, let's ask the most vain man on earth if he did a highly newsworthy thing. I hope he doesn't lie about this like he does pretty much everything else.
Eh... In this case that lie could (should) have put him in major trouble considering he got in the way of an attack by an ally of the country he resides in.
Not helping your countries ally bomb someone is in no way illegal. In fact, it's a lot more likely that the reverse will be true. Bombing people is bad, as it turns out.
Musk's official biographer explained that there was a point where he had to take a decision of either allow it or not, and a Russian official discouraged it on the basis that there would be a nuclear escalation.
Allegedly, someone in a 5 point building got super pissed by the fact that a rich guy got to call it off, jumping over them and the Prez himself.
The DoD has since signed contracts with Starlink for service. But they hadn't at the time yet so I don't see why the Pentagon or American president would be involved in the decision.
That is exactly what happened. The US prohibits US companies (including SpaceX) from operating in Crimea. Nothing was switched off, the attack vessel simply left the area it works in, and they couldn't switch it back on either.
Furthermore, SpaceX are not authorised to sell weapons or participate in military actions with foreign forces. They're already on shaky legal grounds by turning the other way to Ukraine's use (which the US supports, of course, so they're generally willing to let it slide). If SpaceX started operating in Crimea and actively supporting the war effort, that would open them up to liability.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4193788-musk-acknowledges-he-turned-off-starlink-internet-access-last-year-during-ukraine-attack-on-russia-military/
"That is exactly what happened"
Except for the part where Musk himself admitted it wasn't so.
If you view the comments above you'll see that your quote was from a biography, Musk has always denied this, and since then the author of the biography has said he got it wrong.
Starlink has never operated in Crimea.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1699917639043404146?s=46&t=bZcrLpl8DTxSpYLBntBfhQ
It never operated in Crimea, but there's a huge difference between "We can't do it even if you ask us." and "We won't do it even if you ask us." In that case it's the second option.
I'm sure they technically could, but legally they can't.
And they would have gotten sued by the government that was providing the weapons used to blow up Russian targets?
Musk got himself involved in the war and got in the way of his country's ally, he should be in jail and his company should have been seized.
Probably not sued, no. The government doesn't need to sue a business to reprimand it for breaking the law.
It's pretty clear you don't even have a basic understanding of how the law works. And you've moved back to "got in the way", as if he actively blocked something specifically to prevent Ukraine's attack.
The service never worked there and he wasn't allowed to turn it on. That's all there is to it, regardless of how angrily you tap on your keyboard.
If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.Yes, he actively blocked something specifically to prevent Ukraine's attack.
The request he referred to was turning it on. The US had already told him not to operate in that area. He didn't block it to prevent the attack, it was already blocked because the US told him he had to.