American administrations have reached out to Elon Musk and his company SpaceX for years with requests to activate or disconnect the Starlink satellite internet service in conflict zones around the world. This was reported by Reuters news agency, based on testimonies from former senior American officials. According to the report, the Biden administration asked the company to locate and disconnect terminals that reached Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, fearing they would be used for operational communications. At the same time, the Biden and Trump administrations worked to expand access to the service in Iran to help regime opponents bypass internet blockages, and in Ukraine to support its military in the war against Russia. According to two of the senior officials, at least some of the terminals used by Iranian-backed organizations were indeed disconnected following the requests.