Musk Rebuts Claims That Terrorists Are Using Starlink in India

The Starlink logo in front of the Indian flag in this file photograph. Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Billionaire Elon Musk said that Starlink satellite beams are not active over India after authorities there seized two of the company’s devices: one in a conflict zone and another during an alleged drug-smuggling bust.

Musk’s Starlink provides high-speed, low-latency internet access worldwide using a network of nearly 6,500 satellites.

In a Dec. 16 social media post on X, the Indian Army’s Spear Corps, officially known as III Corps, stated that acting on specific intelligence, they had seized weapons and ammunition in the state of Manipur in northeast India.

One of the images posted appeared to show a satellite dish and receiver with a Starlink logo.

When an X account highlighted the device, claiming that Starlink “is being used by terrorists,” Musk responded, “This is false. Starlink satellite beams are turned off over India.“

In another post, Musk added, “The beams were never on in the first place.“

Earlier this month, Indian police issued a legal demand to Starlink, seeking details about who purchased a Starlink internet device used in a drug bust.

Indian police are hunting for alleged drug smugglers who they claim used a Starlink satellite internet device to navigate deep seas and bring meth worth $4.25 billion into Indian waters.

Starlink says it has the world’s largest satellite constellation and provides connectivity on Earth’s oceans and waterways, including coverage in international waters.

Coverage over local territorial waters and in motion over land is contingent on government approval. The company is currently awaiting regulatory approval from Indian authorities.

In November, Indian Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia said that Starlink was in the process of obtaining security clearance.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani is competing with Musk over India’s future internet satellite services. Ambani, Asia’s richest man, has more than 479 million Indian telecom users via India’s biggest telecom company, Reliance.

Starlink was also involved in a legal dispute in Brazil, where it is estimated to have more than 200,000 users.

Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered all telecom providers in the country to block access to X from Aug. 30, escalating a months-long dispute between X owner Musk and the Latin American country over free speech and posts that the judge described as misinformation.

In September, the country’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, threatened to suspend the company’s operating license if Musk did not comply with the country’s ban on social media platform X by blocking access to it.

The judge imposed daily fines of $8,900 for anyone caught bypassing the ban using VPNs (virtual private networks), which allow people to access the internet as if they were located in a different country.

Starlink said its assets were frozen by authorities in Brazil. Musk refused to shut down X access as long as the freeze was in effect.

In October, the Supreme Court lifted the asset freeze and eventually allowed X to restart operations, after the company met various legal requirements and complied with previous judicial orders, including paying about $5.4 million in fines.

The European Union announced on Dec. 16 that it is seeking to develop a competitor to the Starlink satellite system.

The European Space Agency and the European Commission signed a 10.6 billion euro ($11.11 billion) contract with the SpaceRISE consortium of three European satellite operators.

The European Commission’s commissioner for defense and space, Andrius Kubilius, said the signing of the agreement “will be vital” for the EU’s security and defense.

“In times of crisis, we cannot afford to be too dependent on countries or companies from outside the European Union,” he said.

The Epoch Times was unable to reach Starlink for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.