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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7 entries: Disputed claims about countries · United StatesClear filters

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

2025 2

Disputed claims

Musk says Social Security records include people '150 years old'; SSA and fact-checkers say few are paid

In the Oval Office on 11 February Musk said DOGE had found people in there that are 150 years old in Social Security data; on 16 February he posted a table of people in each age bracket with the death field set to false, and the next day posted "Maybe Twili…

Response: Acting SSA Commissioner Lee Dudek said These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits (FactCheck.org; CBS News).

United States3 sources
Disputed claimsPost

Musk calls USAID a 'criminal organization' and amplifies disputed claim of condom funding for Gaza

Musk wrote that USAID was a criminal organization and that It needs to die, and said on an X livestream that DOGE was in the process of shutting it down (NPR). He also promoted a claim that the US had planned to spend $50 million on condoms for Gaza (CNN).

Response: Senator Chuck Schumer said dissolving USAID would be illegal and against our national interests (NPR).

United States3 sources

2024 5

Disputed claimsPost

Musk amplifies claim that Michigan has more registered voters than eligible citizens

Musk posted Michigan has more registered voters than eligible citizens!? Is that true @CommunityNotes? and later posted that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was lying to the public (CBS Detroit).

Response: Benson said Musk was spreading dangerous disinformation and was pushing a misleading number that includes 1.2 million inactive records slated for removal in accordance with the law (PolitiFact; C…

United States2 sources
Disputed claims

Musk says FEMA is blocking Hurricane Helene relief; FEMA, FAA and fact-checkers dispute it

Musk posted that FEMA is not merely failing to adequately help people in trouble, but is actively blocking citizens who try to help! and relayed claims that relief flights, including those carrying Starlink kits, were being blocked in North Carolina after H…

Response: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg replied: No one is shutting down the airspace and FAA doesn't block legitimate rescue and recovery flights. FEMA said claims it was confiscating supplies wer…

United States2 sources
Disputed claims

Study finds 50 Musk election posts rated false or misleading drew 1.2 billion views

The Center for Countering Digital Hate identified 50 posts Musk shared between 1 January and 31 July 2024 containing election claims that fact-checkers had rated false or misleading, including claims that Democrats were importing voters through illegal immigr…

Response: CCDH chief executive Imran Ahmed said Musk was abusing his position as owner of a politically influential platform. X responded to Mother Jones with an automated message and did not respond to AFP.

United States2 sources
Disputed claims

Five secretaries of state ask Musk to fix X's Grok chatbot after false ballot-deadline answers

After President Biden withdrew from the race, X's AI chatbot Grok told users that ballot deadlines had passed in nine states, implying Kamala Harris could not be added. Five secretaries of state wrote to Musk asking that Grok direct election questions to CanI…

Response: The letter said Grok continued to repeat this false information for more than a week before it was corrected on 31 July 2024. X did not immediately respond (Minnesota Reformer).

United States3 sources
Disputed claimsPost

Musk reposts AI-altered Kamala Harris campaign video without a parody label

Musk reposted a video that used an AI-generated imitation of Vice President Kamala Harris's voice, captioning it amazing with a laughing emoji and no parody label. Malay Mail reported it drew more than 128 million views on his account.

Response: California Governor Gavin Newsom posted that the video should be illegal; Musk replied that parody is legal in America (Axios). Senator Amy Klobuchar said the post violated X's guidelines, and the…

United States3 sources