“Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.”
Billionaire Elon Musk has been seen as very helpful to Ukrainians when he quickly launched Starlink internet services after the country lost access to the web. The orbital internet technology is far more challenging for Russia to cut off than localized ISPs.
But it wasn’t just Russia wanting to deny Ukrainians an uncensored internet. World leaders called on Starlink to block Russia news broadcasts from reaching Ukrainians as well.
“Starlink has been told by some governments (not Ukraine) to block Russian news sources. We will not do so unless at gunpoint. Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.”
Starlink has been told by some governments (not Ukraine) to block Russian news sources. We will not do so unless at gunpoint.
Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2022
The calls by world leaders and citizens for Musk to block Russian news broadcasts were generally based on the notion that during the conflict, Russian news sources should be considered propaganda. Musk responded to these claims as well:
“All news sources are partially propaganda, some more than others”
All news sources are partially propaganda, some more than others
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2022
According to Fox Business, he also said that he would be changing focus regarding Starlink going forward:
Earlier, he tweeted that SpaceX had prioritized “cyber defense & overcoming signal jamming,” having said a day earlier that in some parts of Ukraine Starlink was the only non-Russian communications system working and it was likely to be targeted.
SpaceX reprioritized to cyber defense & overcoming signal jamming.
Will cause slight delays in Starship & Starlink V2.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2022
As billionaires go, few have injected themselves more directly into the public discourse than Elon Musk. But he goes beyond discourse. He acts.
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