Starlink Watch

The Musk tracker

Elon Musk and governments worldwide

A sourced record of 215 statements and actions by Elon Musk and his companies since 2022: interventions in the politics, governments, courts and regulation of 44 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

215entries
45countries and the EU
147with an official response
35with a fact-check or court finding
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23 entries: IndiaClear filters

2026 17

Attacks on officialsPost

Musk says 'oligarchs' are blocking Starlink in India; government calls bias claims 'baseless'

Musk wrote Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs and This is a crime against the people of India! A follow-up post asked Is Ambani the real boss of India?

Response: The Ministry of Communications said India has a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework, that security assessments are under way for all three licensed satellite operators, and that cla…

India3 sources

2025 3

Power and conflicts

Cables show State Department pushed countries facing US tariffs to approve Starlink, Washington Post reports

The Washington Post reported that State Department cables showed US embassies pressing countries to clear regulatory hurdles for satellite companies, often mentioning Starlink by name, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio increasingly instructed official…

Response: The State Department said Every patriotic American should want to see American companies succeed on the world stage, referring to weaker Chinese competitors (Washington Post).

LesothoIndiaUnited States2 sources
Regulators and courts

X challenges India's content-blocking process and Sahyog portal in Karnataka High Court

X Corp filed a writ petition arguing that the government's use of Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act created an unlawful parallel blocking system bypassing Section 69A, and called the Sahyog portal a censorship tool.

Response: The government argued Section 79(3)(b) is valid, that safe harbour is conditional on acting on notices, and that as a US company X cannot invoke Article 19 free speech rights.

India3 sources
Power and conflicts

Modi meets Musk in Washington during US visit as Starlink awaits Indian licence

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Musk in Washington before his talks with President Trump; India's foreign ministry said they discussed strengthening collaboration in areas including innovation and space exploration. Musk was then leading DOGE, while S…

Response: Asked whether Musk met Modi as a private citizen or a government official, Trump said I don't know, adding I assume he wants to do business in India, and said Musk would not be allowed to do anyt…

IndiaUnited States5 sources

2024 2

Disputed claims

Musk post on eliminating voting machines prompts exchange with India's former IT minister

Musk wrote We should eliminate electronic voting machines, citing hacking risk. When former IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said Indian EVMs were secure, Musk replied Anything can be hacked.

Response: Chandrasekhar wrote that Indian EVMs are custom designed, secure and isolated from any network or media and called Musk's view a huge sweeping generalisation. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote t…

India2 sources
Regulators and courts

X withholds accounts in India under government orders during farmers' protest, says it disagrees

X's Global Government Affairs account said the Indian government had issued executive orders to act on specific accounts and posts, and that we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however, we disagree with these actions.

Response: No official government statement was reported; media cited a Hindustan Times report that MeitY ordered 177 accounts and links blocked across several platforms.

India2 sources

2023 1