Musk ordered Starlink slowdown that blindsided Ukraine (wsj.com)
124 pointsby jaredwiener5 days ago55 comments
flowerlad 5 days ago
This is hugely relevant in India because Musk is trying to force his way into the Indian market [1]. You don't want Musk owning critical infrastructure in any country.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/14/business/india-elon-musk-...
petetnt 5 days ago
It’s also no mistake that a certain ”flying” car was shown recently, it’s like jangling shiny keys in front of people and the general public, including HN, ate it wholesale.
roryirvine 4 days ago
Try jingling your keys too often, and your cat will start acting with disdain rather than excitement.
Ever more of us have reached that point with Musk, and he'll soon be reduced to dancing a jig with his underpants on his head in a desperate attempt to forestall yawns from his audience.
What happens at that point? Will he calm down and start acting a bit more sensibly, or will he react against the ingrates? Will he want to send us all away to, er, live on a farm?
Zigurd 4 days ago
Seems like humanoid robots are passé now.
jacquesm 5 days ago
I wonder in what other country a private individual would be given the power over foreign policy to this extent.
worik 5 days ago
I think the USA has laws against private citizens involving themselves in foreign policy
Edit: The Logan Act
jacquesm 5 days ago
You can have all the laws you want but if you don't enforce them they might as well not exist. And then there is the abuse of power. I'm not under the illusion that any of these people will ever answer for their deeds. But the world is watching and learning.
cdrnsf 5 days ago
This is easy: issue crippling fines and criminal penalties, nationalize SpaceX and allow Ukraine to go on using it.
Jtsummers 5 days ago
That won't happen with this administration. It's backing out of sanctions on Russia, and starting to slow down (working towards eliminating, it appears) support for Ukraine.
jacquesm 5 days ago
I wished I was religious so I could pray for a house+senate victory in two weeks time. This charade has gone on far too long, the United States is much too important a player on the international stage to be run by characters of this caliber.
Jtsummers 5 days ago
Even my district has a chance to flip and it has always (since its creation over 50 years ago) been held by Republicans.
jacquesm 5 days ago
Here's to hoping.
You'd think that with this much evidence getting rid of these characters would be a shoe-in, more than half the world can't believe what trump & co are getting away with here.
I trace this particular thing back to two specific items (1) 9/11 and (2) Barack Obama. The first made Muslims a never ending gift in terms of pushing the fear button and the second gave rise to overt racism by that contingent of the country that could not comprehend how a person-of-color managed to get into the most powerful spot in the country when they were still struggling. Between those two and some very nasty behind the scenes work by the Heritage Foundation and a bunch of fat cats suddenly we find ourselves with the world hanging in the balance. World War I started over much less.
davidw 5 days ago
Get out there and walk doors if you can. Even an introvert like me can do it. It doesn't really require any special training. Find your candidate and look up how to help.
LastTrain 4 days ago
Well if it is close don’t expect the results to be accepted.
jacquesm 4 days ago
Even if it is not...
verdverm 5 days ago
From another comment of mine on a HN Musk submission today
---
Musk has earned the vitriol, largely due to his political stunts. When the world's richest person starts dumping his money into elections and interfering in politics across the globe, why are we surprised people are angry and critical? When he takes a golden chainsaw to USAID, how many preventable deaths are directly attributable to these changes? How is it fair that an unelected, private citizen can contribute so much money to one person's political campaign, and then receive carte blanche to change our public services as a reward? How is it that this same person can unilaterally change how our military assets are used by an ally?
Something is deeply wrong with this. This is the heart of people's anger.
afavour 5 days ago
So, Starlink is a national security risk. Worth noting.
Be glad you saw this thread before it is inevitably flagged from the site, despite clearly being relevant.
jacquesm 5 days ago
It only gets flagged when it reaches the homepage. Elon has godlike status amongst some HN'ers so it is kind of predictable that whatever criticizes Elon will get flagged.
afavour 5 days ago
Flagging downranks the entry so it disappears quickly off the homepage. As indeed happened in this case.
tim333 4 days ago
There have also been 94 Musk stories submitted over the last week so sometimes it's a bit excessive.
avidruntime 4 days ago
I feel like there's been a shift. Elon used to have god like status, but as he spent that social capital on objectionable behavior, it seems the shift has been towards a general dismissal and disdain for people who dislike Elon, which gets conflated into a similar thought terminating argument like "Trump derangement syndrome"
tmpz22 5 days ago
I was unable to access this post without logging in. I kept receiving a page whose only text was “sorry.”
jacquesm 5 days ago
That happens, it's a bug in HN. The title will show but the page comes up blank with 'Sorry.'.
yoyohello13 5 days ago
Funny how this is barely visible while the roadster that will never see the light of day has >2000 comments.
avidruntime 4 days ago
Crazy how the pieces have fallen.
rectang 5 days ago
Note to anyone considering buying defense product from Musk's companies: your security may be shut off at Elon Musk's whim.
Lio 3 days ago
Yeah if you're a share holder you shouldn't be in any doubt that business is probably dead, if not straight away then in the medium term.
hnburnsy 5 days ago
So which reporting do I believe:
Reuters reported the order came from inside the White House
The Telegraph reported Musk proposed it to Trump
WSJ says Musk ordered itSmirkingRevenge 5 days ago
I guess we just have to blame them all
Jtsummers 5 days ago
Musk gave the order. The debate is to what extent, if any, this was coordinated with or directed from the WH. But it either started with Musk, passed through Musk from the WH, or was decided in the WH with Musk involved in the discussion. Regardless, he's the one who actually gave the order since this is not a "the buck stops here" kind of administration.
jacquesm 5 days ago
They're swapping the hot potato so fast you could probably get some good energy out of that. Someone is going to get into a lot of trouble over that, the image of people dying on video within 24 hours of drone strikes that could have been prevented is a lot easier to relate to than a school with 130 girls in it (though that was at least if not more reprehensible, and they can throw Hegseth under the bus when it comes to it). This one is on them and they know it.
LastTrain 4 days ago
Oh right it is all just /so/ confusing lets all just give up /s
yubblegum 4 days ago
translation: Current US admin is a fascist regime.
goatlover 5 days ago
When will Elon be held accountable?
jacquesm 5 days ago
probably never, but if he ever spends a day in jail because of this I'll be happy to eat a soft head covering of your choosing[1].
[1] conditions (condiments) may apply.
rstuart4133 5 days ago
Within a decade. Starlink had little competition, and the world had little reason to build one - it's a good service and the price isn't bad.
Now Russia, China, Japan and the EU are all building competitors. Most of SpaceX's revenue comes from Starlink launches.
tim333 4 days ago
archive https://archive.ph/Z9nN8
There has been a lot of people not wanting to admit responsibility. I don't think Musk would have ordered the slowdown without asking Trump.
I mostly blame Trump for the current mess and betrayal. Musk is just sucking up to the boss.
jacquesm 4 days ago
JumpCrisscross 5 days ago
Elon Musk is a national security threat to free Europe.
I don’t for a second believe anyone in leadership will make the necessary hard choices, e.g. tariffs or even bans on purchasing or financing Tesla and Starlink. And Musk knows this. He wouldn’t dare pull this sort of nonsense with anyone in China’s sphere of influence.
throw310822 5 days ago
Is this saying that Musk ordered by himself a restriction in the service of Starshield, a US defense infrastructure? Is it just me or this doesn't make any sense?
Jtsummers 5 days ago
> Is this saying that Musk ordered by himself a restriction in the service of Starshield
No, the title and article are about Starlink, Starshield isn't even mentioned.
jacquesm 5 days ago
No, it is not, this is the first line of the article:
"ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine"
The 'military-grade version of Starlink' = StarShield, the reason they refer to Starlink is because that's what the public knows.
Jtsummers 5 days ago
Ah, fair point. I wish the authors would have called it by its actual name.
jacquesm 5 days ago
NP, Yes, they should have and they should have added that to that line ("called StarShield"). That would have saved a lot of people the confusion.
Either way, what Musk did was disgusting, it's indirect murder. Not that that's new for him but still, this time the link is a very short one.
throw310822 5 days ago
But how can you believe that Musk limited a US military service of his own initiative?
jacquesm 5 days ago
I can believe that easily enough, he's the same guy that decimated a whole raft of US government institutions and it just so happens that he was quoted (directly prior to Starshield speeds being limited to just under what interceptor drones need to work) as saying that Ukraine had 'gone too far' (whatever that means) and that one DJT has hinted as much. Between those I find it very believable, though it is also possible that Trump is lying and Musk is being made a scapegoat. Hegseth is the dark horse here. Maybe we'll never know, maybe there will be a hearing or even a court case. Absent those it is either Musk, Trump or Hegseth (in that order, feel free to rearrange) and if you have a better candidate I'm all ears.
throw310822 5 days ago
Unless my picture of how things work is completely wrong, this decision must have come from Trump. I can easily picture Musk (always eager to please) suggesting it as a possibility and Trump telling him "yeah let's do it". Of course all through informal channels because it's all like Trump's private property now. So Musk calls some henchman at the office and tells him to slow down Zelensky's internet until new order, "to send a signal".
jacquesm 5 days ago
Trump is a tool. Whether he's Musk's tool, Putin's tool or someone else's tool doesn't really matter. If it went like you described then they're both culpable, not just Trump. And yes, the signal was received, loud and clear around the whole world: when you are defending your country do not count on the US anymore.
insane_dreamer 5 days ago
> by himself
the reporting doesn't indicate he did this "on his own"; but rather it appears it was initiated by the WH. Musk of course giving the order since the WH wasn't going to call up the Starlink engineers directly
tastyface 5 days ago
Musk adds Ukrainian blood to his already sopping-wet hands.
jacquesm 5 days ago
I watched a video of a group of mothers and kids in a playground when a Russian drone arrived. One of the kids was a 1 year old in a stroller.
Elon Musk has a lot to answer for.
verdverm 5 days ago
This is what happens when you mix ketamine with grok and too much money.
worik 5 days ago
Yes. There should be a law against it....