Search
+
    The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Ukraine crisis: Elon Musk refuses to block Russian news sources, says he's a 'free speech absolutist'

    Synopsis

    Musk said he won't block them unless he was held at gunpoint.

    Elon Musk ​revealed that some Starlink terminals near the conflict areas in Ukraine were jammed for several hours.​AFP
    Elon Musk revealed that some Starlink terminals near the conflict areas in Ukraine were jammed for several hours.
    Billionaire Elon Musk has been doing his best to help Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

    On Saturday, the Tesla CEO shared that some world leaders (non-Ukrainian government) have been requesting Starlink - the satellite internet division of Musk-owned SpaceX - to block Russian news sources.

    Taking to his official Twitter account, he refused to do so unless he was held at gunpoint. He added that he was a 'free speech absolutist'.


    Meanwhile, tech giants such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, YouTube, Meta and several others have banned Russia-controlled news networks - RT and Sputnik - in the wake of Russia's attack on Ukraine.

    When a user said that Russia's news was propaganda, Musk immediately replied, "All news sources are partially propaganda, some more than others."


    Later in the day, the 50-year-old confirmed that SpaceX had to reprioritise to cyber defense to overcome signal jamming. This further resulted in 'slight delay' in Starship & Starlink V2.


    Musk on Friday warned Ukrainians to use the Starlink satellite system with caution as his commercial Internet network can be targeted by Russians and hamper the entire system at work.

    As a non-Russian communications system, the Starlink satellite internet service has a "high" probability of being targeted.

    The world's richest man also revealed that some Starlink terminals near the conflict areas were jammed for several hours. His team managed to bypass the jamming with the latest software update.

    "Am curious to see what’s next," he added.

    To lighten the mood further, he said that this activity is helping the company do free quality assurance.


    Musk urged the people of Ukraine to 'Hold Strong', and expressed sympathies for the 'great people of Russia', who do not want this war.


    On Thursday, Musk sent a truck full of Starlink user terminals to the war-torn country so that the communication channel is open for the people of the distressed nation.

    He also said that he optimised the software so that the terminals can function with power consumption as low as 12V car cigarette lighter.

    ( Originally published on Mar 05, 2022 )

    (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

    ...more

    (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

    ...more
    The Economic Times

    Stories you might be interested in