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Nobody Owns Starlink’s Off Switch
A weapon of war was throttled, and nobody will say who did it
Look, I’m a Starlink customer. I love it, especially in rural areas without fiber networks. For many folks in those communities, Starlink may be their best internet option.
You know who also relies on Starlink? Ukraine.
Last Tuesday, October 13, Ukrainian officials said drone missions failed mid-flight. By the end of the week, two different people had two different answers about who was responsible.
Nobody disputes that Ukraine’s Starlink connection was throttled. Fingers are just getting pointed around the table, from Elon Musk to President Donald Trump.
Shouldn’t we be concerned when a weapon of war can be switched off or slowed down (throttled) and we cannot identify who made the call? Especially if that someone was unelected like Elon Musk or is someone nobody can name.
At a minimum, it’s a major national security vulnerability.
President Trump denied throttling Ukraine’s access; the same throttling that opened a window where Russia unleashed some of its most aggressive attacks on Ukraine to date. And this all came just days after President Trump announced a diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, weeks ahead of the…
