{"id":166390,"date":"2026-10-29T08:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T16:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/29\/elon-musk-says-he-saved-people-from-being-killed-by-starlink-through-killing-different-people-with-starlink\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T08:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T16:57:10","slug":"elon-musk-says-he-saved-people-from-being-killed-by-starlink-through-killing-different-people-with-starlink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/29\/elon-musk-says-he-saved-people-from-being-killed-by-starlink-through-killing-different-people-with-starlink\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk Says He Saved People From Being Killed By Starlink Through Killing Different People With Starlink"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1773\" src=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1358939083-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-82707\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Photo by Theo Wargo\/Getty Images for TIME)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the Antarctic, in the middle of the ocean, or in one of earth\u2019s several active war zones, if you have internet service, it\u2019s probably through Starlink. Having launched more than 10,000 Starlink satellites into orbit using his rocket company SpaceX, Elon Musk unilaterally controls internet access in the world\u2019s most dangerous and remote places.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Homo sapiens<\/em> are a communicative species, and also a power-hungry species. Thus, it seems obvious that it is a bad idea to put an entire communications medium in the hands of one man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It seems especially risky to put an entire communications medium in the hands of the richest man in the history of the world who grows ever increasingly erratic and unhinged. Musk is not well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, here we are. Close to five years ago, Ukraine was invaded by its neighbor Russia for no reason beyond the fact that Russia wanted to seize Ukrainian land <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2026\/03\/un-commission-concludes-deportation-and-forcible-transfer-ukrainian-children\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">and people<\/a>. In fighting throughout Ukraine to repel the Russian aggressors, innovative Ukrainian defensive techniques relied on Starlink internet services (sometimes separately branded as Starshield in military contexts) to defeat Russian missiles, drones, and air power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Musk has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to become, by far, the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/elon-musk-midterms-republicans-donors-c06efc774a2e7c5d345e0d46641eb510\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">biggest donor to Republican candidates<\/a> this election cycle. He additionally spent hundreds of millions in previous election cycles to elect Trump and other Republicans. It is not unclear which side of America\u2019s political divide Musk is on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Donald Trump is a doddering old man who does not have any logically consistent policy positions. Any <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/10\/the-republican-party-brand-is-betrayal\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">cogent American leader would<\/a> vigorously support Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, naturally, Trump bounces back and forth on alternatively supporting Ukraine or Russia like a strongly whacked billiard ball. Most recently, Trump yet again turned on Ukraine, and when the Starlink internet access Ukraine relies on to defend its civilians <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/10\/21\/trump-starlink-ukraine-elon-musk.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">was then mysteriously<\/a> throttled, Trump denied responsibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After several days of blame-shifting and confusion, Musk came out and said:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be. Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be clear, everyone on the American right is an iredeemable liar, and we won\u2019t know for years whether Trump actually ordered Musk to throttle Ukraine\u2019s internet service, or whether Musk decided to do it all on his own. In either case, we do know that <a href=\"https:\/\/newscord.org\/article\/starshield-throttling-makes-ukraine-drones-fall-halts-operations-against-russian--Story_20261022_Dronesfallstrikessta9f04a06e\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ukrainian defensive drones fell out of the sky<\/a> when their Starlink internet access was throttled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Were some Russians working at oil refineries or shipyards or military depots saved when Musk cut off Ukraine\u2019s Starlink internet access? Perhaps. Yet, we know for a fact that Ukrainian civilians, left defenseless, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/photos-show-ukraine-starlink-throttled-russian-strike-killed-5\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">were killed while Starlink was throttled<\/a>, including children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musk should not be allowed to favor the lives of Russian soldiers and grown industrial workers over the lives of Ukrainian civilians (including women and children). Truman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trumanlibrary.gov\/education\/presidential-inquiries\/steel-strike-1952\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">nationalized the steel industry<\/a>. Wilson nationalized the railroads. This is not unprecedented \u2014 no single man, no single for-profit industry, should have unimpeachable control over a necessary element of a country\u2019s national defense. Musk should not be able to make these decisions himself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musk claimed SpaceX has never allowed anyone to use Starlink to kill people. But, by throttling Ukraine\u2019s Starlink service, he almost certainly caused the deaths of Ukrainian civilians, among them <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/10\/20\/world-news\/photo-reveals-ukrainian-mom-baby-killed-in-drone-strike-at-park\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a 1-year-old child<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s almost as if we shouldn\u2019t be letting an out-of-touch, likely sociopathic billionaire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/may\/30\/elon-musk-trump-drug-use\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">who has allegedly ingested more drugs<\/a> than Mick Jagger decide who lives and who dies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musk is a liar. Maybe he saved some Russians by throttling Ukraine\u2019s Starlink access, maybe he didn\u2019t, but he certainly disabled the defenses protecting a number of Ukrainians who were then killed. These decisions should not be left up to the whims of one man, let alone a man like Musk who consistently displays an utter disregard for anyone else on this planet other than himself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a reason why Musk has become, for Republicans, the <a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/rogers-solicits-funds-to-protect-elon-the-biggest-political-donor-in-history\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">largest political donor in the history of the world<\/a> this election cycle. He knows Republicans will do nothing to hold him accountable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t let this man further consolidate his grip on power. If you don\u2019t want to live in a world wholly controlled by Elon Musk, voting in this midterm election is probably your last chance to prevent it.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Jonathan Wolf is a civil litigator and author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/38fQXp4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong><em>Your Debt-Free JD<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>\u00a0(affiliate link). He has taught legal writing, written for a wide variety of publications, and made it both his business and his pleasure to be financially and scientifically literate. Any views he expresses are probably pure gold, but are nonetheless solely his own and should not be attributed to any organization with which he is affiliated. He wouldn\u2019t want to share the credit anyway. He can be reached at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"mailto:jon_wolf@hotmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>jon_wolf@hotmail.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/10\/elon-musk-says-he-saved-people-from-being-killed-by-starlink-through-killing-different-people-with-starlink\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Elon Musk Says He Saved People From Being Killed By Starlink Through Killing Different People With Starlink<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1773\" src=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1358939083-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-82707\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Photo by Theo Wargo\/Getty Images for TIME)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the Antarctic, in the middle of the ocean, or in one of earth\u2019s several active war zones, if you have internet service, it\u2019s probably through Starlink. Having launched more than 10,000 Starlink satellites into orbit using his rocket company SpaceX, Elon Musk unilaterally controls internet access in the world\u2019s most dangerous and remote places.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Homo sapiens<\/em> are a communicative species, and also a power-hungry species. Thus, it seems obvious that it is a bad idea to put an entire communications medium in the hands of one man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It seems especially risky to put an entire communications medium in the hands of the richest man in the history of the world who grows ever increasingly erratic and unhinged. Musk is not well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, here we are. Close to five years ago, Ukraine was invaded by its neighbor Russia for no reason beyond the fact that Russia wanted to seize Ukrainian land <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2026\/03\/un-commission-concludes-deportation-and-forcible-transfer-ukrainian-children\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">and people<\/a>. In fighting throughout Ukraine to repel the Russian aggressors, innovative Ukrainian defensive techniques relied on Starlink internet services (sometimes separately branded as Starshield in military contexts) to defeat Russian missiles, drones, and air power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Musk has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to become, by far, the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/elon-musk-midterms-republicans-donors-c06efc774a2e7c5d345e0d46641eb510\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">biggest donor to Republican candidates<\/a> this election cycle. He additionally spent hundreds of millions in previous election cycles to elect Trump and other Republicans. It is not unclear which side of America\u2019s political divide Musk is on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Donald Trump is a doddering old man who does not have any logically consistent policy positions. Any <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/10\/the-republican-party-brand-is-betrayal\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">cogent American leader would<\/a> vigorously support Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, naturally, Trump bounces back and forth on alternatively supporting Ukraine or Russia like a strongly whacked billiard ball. Most recently, Trump yet again turned on Ukraine, and when the Starlink internet access Ukraine relies on to defend its civilians <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/10\/21\/trump-starlink-ukraine-elon-musk.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">was then mysteriously<\/a> throttled, Trump denied responsibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After several days of blame-shifting and confusion, Musk came out and said:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be. Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be clear, everyone on the American right is an iredeemable liar, and we won\u2019t know for years whether Trump actually ordered Musk to throttle Ukraine\u2019s internet service, or whether Musk decided to do it all on his own. In either case, we do know that <a href=\"https:\/\/newscord.org\/article\/starshield-throttling-makes-ukraine-drones-fall-halts-operations-against-russian--Story_20261022_Dronesfallstrikessta9f04a06e\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ukrainian defensive drones fell out of the sky<\/a> when their Starlink internet access was throttled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Were some Russians working at oil refineries or shipyards or military depots saved when Musk cut off Ukraine\u2019s Starlink internet access? Perhaps. Yet, we know for a fact that Ukrainian civilians, left defenseless, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/photos-show-ukraine-starlink-throttled-russian-strike-killed-5\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">were killed while Starlink was throttled<\/a>, including children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musk should not be allowed to favor the lives of Russian soldiers and grown industrial workers over the lives of Ukrainian civilians (including women and children). Truman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trumanlibrary.gov\/education\/presidential-inquiries\/steel-strike-1952\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">nationalized the steel industry<\/a>. Wilson nationalized the railroads. This is not unprecedented \u2014 no single man, no single for-profit industry, should have unimpeachable control over a necessary element of a country\u2019s national defense. Musk should not be able to make these decisions himself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musk claimed SpaceX has never allowed anyone to use Starlink to kill people. But, by throttling Ukraine\u2019s Starlink service, he almost certainly caused the deaths of Ukrainian civilians, among them <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/10\/20\/world-news\/photo-reveals-ukrainian-mom-baby-killed-in-drone-strike-at-park\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a 1-year-old child<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s almost as if we shouldn\u2019t be letting an out-of-touch, likely sociopathic billionaire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/may\/30\/elon-musk-trump-drug-use\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">who has allegedly ingested more drugs<\/a> than Mick Jagger decide who lives and who dies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musk is a liar. Maybe he saved some Russians by throttling Ukraine\u2019s Starlink access, maybe he didn\u2019t, but he certainly disabled the defenses protecting a number of Ukrainians who were then killed. These decisions should not be left up to the whims of one man, let alone a man like Musk who consistently displays an utter disregard for anyone else on this planet other than himself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a reason why Musk has become, for Republicans, the <a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/rogers-solicits-funds-to-protect-elon-the-biggest-political-donor-in-history\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">largest political donor in the history of the world<\/a> this election cycle. He knows Republicans will do nothing to hold him accountable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t let this man further consolidate his grip on power. If you don\u2019t want to live in a world wholly controlled by Elon Musk, voting in this midterm election is probably your last chance to prevent it.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Jonathan Wolf is a civil litigator and author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/38fQXp4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong><em>Your Debt-Free JD<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>\u00a0(affiliate link). He has taught legal writing, written for a wide variety of publications, and made it both his business and his pleasure to be financially and scientifically literate. Any views he expresses are probably pure gold, but are nonetheless solely his own and should not be attributed to any organization with which he is affiliated. He wouldn\u2019t want to share the credit anyway. He can be reached at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#19737677466e76757f5971766d74787075377a7674\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong><em>[email\u00a0protected]<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Photo by Theo Wargo\/Getty Images for TIME) In the Antarctic, in the middle of the ocean, or in one of earth\u2019s several active war zones, if you have internet service, it\u2019s probably through Starlink. Having launched more than 10,000 Starlink satellites into orbit using his rocket company SpaceX, Elon Musk unilaterally controls internet access in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":166335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}