Starlink Watch

The Musk tracker

Elon Musk and governments worldwide

A sourced record of 212 statements and actions by Elon Musk and his companies since 2022: interventions in the politics, governments, courts and regulation of 43 countries and the European Union, threats and legal action against critics, and the use of market power against competitors. Each entry sets out what he said or did, the background, the response and what happened next.

Compiled by Starlink Watch editors · Updated

212entries
44countries and the EU
147with an official response
35with a fact-check or court finding
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4 entries: Disputed claims about countries · RussiaClear filters

Claims about countries that governments, courts or fact-checkers disputed or found false.

2024 2

Disputed claims

Kremlin denies Wall Street Journal report of regular Musk–Putin contact since 2022

The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk and Vladimir Putin had been in regular contact since 2022, discussing personal, business and geopolitical matters, and that Putin asked Musk to avoid activating Starlink over Taiwan as a favour to Xi Jinping.

Response: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: It's all untrue, absolutely false information, acknowledging only one earlier phone call with Musk about space and technology.

Russia2 sources
Disputed claims

Ukraine says Russian forces use Starlink at the front; Musk calls sales reports 'categorically false'

Ukraine's military intelligence said Russian units were using Starlink terminals and released audio it attributed to Russian soldiers. Musk wrote that reports of SpaceX selling terminals to Russia were categorically false and that "To the best of our knowle…

Response: Ukrainian intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said Russian use was becoming systemic.

UkraineRussia2 sources

2022 2

Disputed claimsPost

Musk posts Ukraine 'peace plan' poll proposing Crimea become part of Russia

Musk posted a Twitter poll on a plan to end the war: UN-supervised re-runs of the annexation referendums, Crimea formally part of Russia, assured water supply to Crimea, and Ukraine remaining neutral. A follow-up poll asked whether people of Donbas and Crimea…

Response: President Zelensky posted a poll asking Which @elonmusk do you like more? (one supporting Ukraine, one supporting Russia). Diplomat Andrij Melnyk replied with an expletive. The Kremlin called it a…

UkraineRussia2 sources