A senior Ukrainian official says this enabled Russian attacks and accuses him of "committing evil".

Elon Musk says he refused to give Kyiv access to his Starlink communications network over Crimea to avoid complicity in a “major act of war”.

Kyiv had sent an emergency request to activate Starlink to Sevastopol, home to a major Russian navy port, he said.

His comments came after a book alleged he had switched off Starlink to thwart a drone attack on Russian ships.

A senior Ukrainian official says this enabled Russian attacks and accused him of “committing evil”.

Russian naval vessels had since taken part in deadly attacks on civilians, he said.

“By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military (!) fleet via Starlink interference, Elon Musk allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities,” he said.

“Why do some people so desperately want to defend war criminals and their desire to commit murder? And do they now realize that they are committing evil and encouraging evil?” he added.

The row follows the release of a biography of the billionaire by Walter Isaacson which alleges that Mr Musk switched off Ukraine’s access to Starlink because he feared that an ambush of Russia’s naval fleet in Crimea could provoke a nuclear response from the Kremlin.

Ukraine targeted Russian ships in Sevastopol with submarine drones carrying explosives but they lost connection to Starlink and “washed ashore harmlessly”, Mr Isaacson wrote.

Starlink terminals connect to SpaceX satellites in orbit and have been crucial for maintaining internet connectivity and communication in Ukraine as the conflict has disrupted the country infrastructure.

    • underisk@lemmy.mlEnglish
      1023·
      1 year ago

      We already had a nationalized SpaceX. We defunded it and gave grants to private companies like uh… SpaceX.

        • Oddbin@lemmy.worldEnglish
          589·
          1 year ago

          Nope, it comes from Old French which used the same “s” as Latin whereas the “z” is greek. The French standardised to the “s” in the late 1600 which informed the English which had bounced between the Greek and Latin but formalised on “ise” not “ize”.

          So, nationalise is the correct one here.

          • GoFastBoots@lemmy.worldEnglish
            982·
            1 year ago

            You’re entitled to your hill, but as linguistically correct as you may be, linguistics take a back seat to common usage and national variance.

            Nationalized and nationalised are both English terms. Nationalized is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English ( en-US ) while nationalised is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) ( en-GB ).

            • GunnarRunnar@kbin.social
              542·
              1 year ago

              Yeah what kind of linguistics dweeb doesn’t understand that language is fluid and shapes with time and location.

              • xkforce@lemmy.worldEnglish
                221·
                1 year ago

                I’d love to see this tool be held to the spelling standards of old English. You know… to preserve the English language.

              • SCB@lemmy.worldEnglish
                4·
                1 year ago

                Literally the first thing you learn in linguistics is that the malleability in language is why linguistics exists.

                • JackFrostNCola@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  2·
                  1 year ago

                  Which is literally why “literally” and “figuratively” as practically interchangable due to misuse of ‘literally’ as hyperbole. Its figuratively killing me.

                • GunnarRunnar@kbin.social
                  21·
                  1 year ago

                  How is dismissing a correction with a blunt “nope” nice and tacking on etymology when we’re talking about modern use of the word?

                • SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.mlEnglish
                  14·
                  1 year ago

                  Ah, the cruel barbs of irony. Your English is actually quite atrocious.

                  There wasn’t a proper sentence in that reply. There was hardly a coherent thought. Perhaps it is time to put your phone down, finish your drink, and go watch a sport.

                • floofloof@lemmy.caEnglish
                  121·
                  1 year ago

                  Oh, get bent, you bell-end! There is no point in trying to be nice and discuss things on here any more; let’s be honest. You lot just love to circle-jerk how much you hate Musk to the detriment of everything else. God buoye ond god spede.

                  FTFY.

                • Bipta@kbin.social
                  61·
                  1 year ago

                  Everyone should just report this idiot and move on. You can’t fix stupid.

                • Hyperreality@kbin.social
                  51·
                  1 year ago

                  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nationalize

                  You thought you were smart to correct what you thought was a mistake. You were mistaken, because you’re less smart than you think you are, and not smart enough to know that you don’t know that much.

                  Rather than admit that you’re less smart than you think you are, you’ve doubled down and become rude about it.

                  Vanity, it’s the devil’s favourite sin.

                  Obviously, it’s pathetic. We’ve all been there, but you really should learn when to walk away rather than doubling down.

            • Oddbin@lemmy.worldEnglish
              372·
              1 year ago

              Wow, this really upset a bunch of the Lemmy toxic club didn’t jt. Honestly, Reddit may be crap but lemmy is doing it’s best to ape it’s toxicity.

          • floofloof@lemmy.caEnglish
            14·
            1 year ago

            From https://www.etymonline.com/word/-ize#etymonline_v_25713 :

            -ize

            word-forming element used to make verbs, Middle English -isen, from Old French -iser/-izer, from Late Latin -izare, from Greek -izein, a verb-forming element denoting the doing of the noun or adjective to which it is attached.

            The variation of -ize and -ise began in Old French and Middle English, perhaps aided by a few words (such as surprise, see below) where the ending is French or Latin, not Greek. With the classical revival, English partially reverted to the correct Greek -z- spelling from late 16c. But the 1694 edition of the authoritative French Academy dictionary standardized the spellings as -s-, which influenced English.

            In Britain, despite the opposition to it (at least formerly) of OED, Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Times of London, and Fowler, -ise remains dominant. Fowler thinks this is to avoid the difficulty of remembering the short list of common words not from Greek which must be spelled with an -s- (such as advertise, devise, surprise). American English has always favored -ize. The spelling variation involves about 200 English verbs.

            So in 1694 “-ise” was deemed correct in French, but English has always bounced around between the two spellings, both before and since then. American English has always favoured “-ize” spellings. It’s not really reasonable to try to impose the standards of French in 1694 on English globally in 2023.

          • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
            51·
            1 year ago

            And why, dare I ask, should the French form of the suffix be prioritized over the Greek? Latin actually used the Z when the suffix was borrowed from Greek. In French, the letter Z essentially didn’t exist, as even in Latin it was (nearly?) exclusively used for Greek loans. As French evolved from vulgar and unwritten Latin, the Z was replaced by S, which is pronounced as /z/ when between vowels anyway.

            So again, why exactly must English hold the etymologically corrupted French form above the actual original one?

            • Tarquinn2049@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              1 year ago

              It’s not about what must be done. It’s about what has been done. Language isn’t about how things should have been. One person rarely gets much of a say in how language will develop. If you try to hold language up to best possible practices, you will be disappointed by the actual outcome every time.

      • ShoeboxKiller@lemm.eeEnglish
        82·
        1 year ago

        People learn words in different fashions. In Jeopardy (an American quiz show) they accept written answers in the last round that are spelled incorrectly as long as it’s clear, phonetically, what they were trying for.

        This is done in part because some people learn words by hearing them and not seeing them written, just like some people might have read a word but not know how to pronounce it.

        Did you comment this to be superior or be helpful because it comes across as superior.

        • Oddbin@lemmy.worldEnglish
          213·
          1 year ago

          To add the same low level of information and discourse that all of these click bait, musk hate posts of late contribute to “news” and “technology”.

          Did you comment to feel superior or were you feeling left out?

          • ShoeboxKiller@lemm.eeEnglish
            41·
            1 year ago

            Neither. I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt that others didn’t and share something I learned that gave me a different perspective.

            Just like I’m treating this question as genuine, though I suspect it’s snark.

  • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1334·
    1 year ago

    Elon Musk says he refused to give Kyiv access to his Starlink communications network over Crimea to avoid complicity in a “major act of war”.

    So, in the classic trolley problem, Elon’s choice is to remove the track switch that his company produced so that no one else could use it to make a choice.

    “Sorry, guys. Looks like those innocent civilians tied to the tracks are going to have to die so that I am not tangentially and tenuously responsible for your choice to save them in exchange for the deaths of Russian soldiers attacking your sovereign lands and people (cough and lose money from the Kremlin as a result cough)”

    There’s no “right” answer to the trolley problem. But there are definitely wrong ones.

    • Rhaedas@kbin.social
      454·
      1 year ago

      Musk is the kid in the video that moves all the people to just one of the tracks, gets praised by everyone for thinking outside the box, and then proceeds to run the trolley down that track.

    • scarabic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      193·
      1 year ago

      His logic seems to be that Ukraine is to blame for all the bloodshed of the Russian invasion because they didn’t roll over and surrender without a fight.

      Victim blaming. Classic asshole move.

      Did Elon have a stroke at some point that we don’t know about? It’s amazing how consistently he makes a huge ass of himself now.

      • HopeOfTheGunblade@kbin.social
        103·
        1 year ago

        One of his kids came out as trans, his partner left him and later dated a trans woman, and he got caught trying to give one of his employees a horse for sex, so he decided to join the political side that hates trans people and doesn’t hold people accountable for being shit as long as they continue waving the banner.

        • zeppo@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          He’s said about that - Ukraine should negotiate with the Russians and give them territory because war is so killy.

    • aidan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      42·
      1 year ago

      There’s no “right” answer to the trolley problem. But there are definitely wrong ones.

      That depends on your moral basis.

      • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.worldEnglish
        22·
        1 year ago

        Fair enough. My moral basis says that using my personal power and authority to undermine deals that I specifically sought to make in the first place, upon which others are dependent for literal survival, in order to backpedal my involvement in their survival attempts which I knew from the beginning was the entire point of the deal, the result of which directly and predictably leads to the deaths of hundreds/thousands of innocents… I consider that a moral failing. How about you?

  • Endorkend@kbin.social
    12815·
    1 year ago

    This is the same bullshit take propagandists and Musk himself are spreading.

    Musk sabotaged an active military operation in an effort to save Russian assets and materials, by disabling access to Starlink in that area, to halt the operation. And then refused to undo what he did.

    All to protect Russian assets in an illegal undeclared war of annexation where Russia is the aggressor.

    Musks actions enabled the death of thousands of civilians in Ukraine and likely will cause far more through his actions which extend how long this illegal invasion will continue.

    Musk should be stripped of his US citizenship and booted right back to South Africa. America stands by Ukraine, South Africa tries to pretend they are neutral but the agreements they have with Russia and the opinions of rich fuck South Africans like Musk make it clear they stand with Russia.

    And anyone who keeps spreading these press releases with his propagandist take on the subject rather than saying how things actually happened, should be ashamed of themselves and monitored until all this is over.

    • DarkWasp@lemmy.worldEnglish
      518·
      1 year ago

      He should be charged with treason or something similar for doing this during wartime to a US ally. Enough of this narcissistic POS.

      • Coreidan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        112·
        1 year ago

        People always mention Elon doing so and so against a NATO ally and therefore it’s treason without ever mentioning the inverse which is Elon aided a war crime for a country who is a direct enemy of the US, which is the real treasonous crime imo.

  • Jaysyn@kbin.social
    737·
    1 year ago

    Private citizens don’t get to make those decisions.

    It’s time to nationalize Starlink & SpaceX.

      • kamenLady.@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        His father is even crazier about this, seriously. His father is very active, creating more muskeets …

        Not much of a story, if he wouldn’t be doing it with Elon’s stepsister.

    • Pendulum@lemmy.worldEnglish
      122·
      1 year ago

      It was never turned on in the first place. Read the article, not the clickbait headlines that have circulated (this one is on point though, credit to BBC)

    • BigNote@lemm.eeEnglish
      813·
      1 year ago

      Doubt it. The smart money says that he did it because he does a ton of business with the Chinese and is very nervous about being seen to actively take sides in a way that would cause them to see him as a potential security threat.

        • BigNote@lemm.eeEnglish
          32·
          1 year ago

          You would have a point were I simply speculating, but I’m not.

          I am simply stating what the most well-informed and knowledgeable sources are saying.

          You would know this if you had sanitized and healthy media consumption habits, but you obviously don’t.

  • MrSqueezles@lemm.eeEnglish
    383·
    1 year ago

    Censorship is terrible. Except when I want to do it and pretend like I’m the best politician. Then it’s great.

    • orangebussycat@lemmy.worldEnglish
      424·
      1 year ago

      Russia has anti satellite weapons. Why should he risk it for zero reward? At least the defense contractors are getting paid. Elon does it for free.

      • test113@lemmy.worldEnglish
        81·
        1 year ago

        Yeah, sure. Have you ever heard of ‘reactions to actions’? What do you think would happen if Russia were to start targeting foreign satellites? How confident are you that they actually possess the technology to disable around 2000 out of the 4000 Starlink satellites to clear paths above Russia/Ukraine? Or, what do you think Russia is capable of in this regard? and did you really belive musk does this for free and with no ulterior idea? 😂😂😂, but there’s no such thing as free. Here’s just one example: Link to CNBC article on Pentagon awarding SpaceX a Ukraine contract for Starlink satellite internet https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/01/pentagon-awards-spacex-with-ukraine-contract-for-starlink-satellite-internet.html

    • scarabic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      1 year ago

      Now there’s a great idea. Especially since he never would have built SoaceX without so much public support via NASA.

    • vikingEnglish
      18·
      1 year ago

      Use Sync for Lemmy, keyword filter has been operational right from the beginning.

    • nik0@lemm.eeEnglish
      21·
      1 year ago

      Unfortunately, not likely. Unless there are some apps that will be able to do that; we’re stuck with this.

      Sync actually has this

        • nik0@lemm.eeEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          Oh then my apologies. I haven’t used Sync in awhile so I completely forgotten