Elon Musk has no plans to block Russian state media on the Starlink network

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he will not ban Russian state-supported media on the Starlink satellite internet. 

Elon Musk recently wrote on Twitter that he had been urged to shut down Russian news sources about Starlink on the internet. “We will not do it unless we are threatened with a gun. Sorry, I am a free speech absolutist" - wrote the businessman.

Starlink has been told by some governments (not Ukraine) to block Russian news sources. We will not do so unless at gunpoint.

Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.

- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2022

Soon after the outbreak of the war activated by Starlink service in Ukraine, after Ukrainian Minister for Digital Development Mihajlo Fedorov asked for its help. Since the start of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian internet has suffered serious damage, with heavy fighting and explosions in major cities such as Kiev disrupting the operation of GigaTrans, the country's main internet service provider, which also provides connectivity to other networks.

Several technology giants have announced a boycott of Russian state media, saying they broadcast Russian propaganda. Among them, Meta has also imposed sanctions, including blocking pro-Kremlin media advertising on its platforms and preventing these media from generating revenue on its sites.

Recently, Google also banned Russians from buying ads on the platforms of the sites they operate, and they cannot place ads in the search box or on YouTube.

In response to the sanctions, Russia's state communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, completely blocked Facebook in Russia, and it later emerged that Twitter and YouTube were also shot down.