Starlink Involvement in Wartime Efforts Adds to Conversations Around Increased Dependency on Billionaires

Joining other billionaire efforts on the hotseat of public opinion, Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network has become a pivotal part of three major ongoing wars.

Boasting the ability to provide Internet connectivity almost anywhere on Earth, Starlink recently made headlines for its critical role in the Israel-Hamas War. Following his endorsement of an antisemitic post on X, the social media platform Musk purchased in April of 2022, the billionaire met with leaders of Israel’s government to discuss the region’s Starlink access. This meeting changed the course of the war, and— given Musk’s earlier showings of indifference— only occurred as a result of online pressure following his antisemitic backing.  

Similarly, Musk’s personal sentiments also dictated Ukraine’s access to the Internet during the Russo-Ukrainian War. Seeking to avoid a “major act of war,” Musk initially refused Ukraine Internet access from his California based company, up until the United States contracted Starlink to aid its European ally. Musk also held conversations about equipping the U.S. military with access to Starlink in Iran as well.

Having the final say in whether these areas receive crucial connections to the outside world is a responsibility some think shouldn’t fall to Musk and his billionaire peers’ discretion.

In a tweet amassing over one million views and thirty-seven thousand likes, popular American actor George Takei said, “David Frum [a senior editor at the Atlantic] sums up the Elon Musk decision to disable Starlink so that Ukraine couldn’t attack Russian vessels with drones”, in reference to another tweet reading: “an American citizen and U.S. government contractor acknowledges that he personally sabotaged a military operation of a US ally.” 

This sentiment was held by many of X’s other users and carried over to conversation surrounding Musk’s later deliberations in Israel. One Palestinian Internet personality gained nearly two million views, begging Musk to provide the Gaza Strip with Internet access. 

This reliance on Starlink was felt by many across social media to be worsened by Musk and his company’s commercial benefit. In just one year, from 2022 to 2023, Starlink use tripled. On top of this, Amazon— another tech giant headed by billionaire Jeff Bezos— announced their Starlink competitor Project Kuiper, which has the potential to join the satellite communication monopoly. 

Musk’s capricious use of Starlink isn’t alone in drawing attention towards billionaire dependency, and the public is becoming increasingly aware of the ways in which these wealthy individuals fund many other aspects of their lives. 

The Israel-Hamas war sent waves of concern for rising antisemitism throughout the world, and any instances related to the persecution of Jewish people have been handled with increasing seriousness in recent months. In October of 2023, pro-Palestine protests at top schools in the U.S. prompted many of the colleges’ donors to withdraw their funding, feeling that the schools delivered lax anti-hate statements. 

The University of Pennsylvania stopped receiving donations from the ultra-wealthy Huntsman family, who had previously donated tens of millions of dollars to the school. Pennsylvania state lawmakers also blocked the university from receiving donations from other rich funders.  

The reliance on donors for funding has larger implications for these schools, some say. Alex Morey, Director of campus rights advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, found that colleges were trying (and failing) to appease their funders more than they were trying to develop an organic personal stance on the Israel-Hamas war. “If a university takes any position on these issues,” he said, “they're going to make people angry, but worse than that, they move themselves away from their core mission, which is to be the host of debates on campus."

These funding issues are not just a problem for colleges, but for any organizations that benefit from the altruism of billionaires. A 2020 article from Vox cites many charity programs and causes whose success depended mostly on donations from ultra-wealthy patrons, including a COVID 19 drug for use during the height of the pandemic.

During his run for presidency in 2020, famous anti-billionaire politician Bernie Sanders was very vocal about his refusal to rely on billionaire-given campaign funds, even going so far as to only source from small donors before inevitably dropping out of the race. 

Musk’s control of the Starlink program has been too inconsistent and mercurial for many, and to them, it's clear that billionaire dependency is here to stay.