A bipartisan congressional committee is investigating whether SpaceX knowingly supplied Starlink internet service to scam compounds in Myanmar, including sites that the United Nations says are associated with forced labor and human trafficking.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., is involved in the inquiry as a member of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. She sent SpaceX CEO Elon Musk a letter in July with 11 questions about Starlink’s role in the scam economy and has urged the company to block access for criminal networks operating in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
The committee told Agence France-Presse that it has authority to summon Musk to testify, although it cannot compel him to appear. The inquiry focuses on how Starlink terminals reached compounds in Myanmar even though the service was not licensed there.
Starlink traffic expanded rapidly
Data from APNIC, the Asia-Pacific internet registry, showed Myanmar’s Starlink traffic rising from an unranked position before a February crackdown to the country’s largest internet-provider share every day from July 3 through Oct. 1. The figures followed operations by Thai, Chinese and Myanmar authorities that repatriated thousands of suspected scammers.
An AFP investigation traced Starlink equipment to compounds along the Myanmar-Thailand border. During a raid at KK Park on Oct. 20, Myanmar state media reported that soldiers seized 30 Starlink receivers and related equipment. Images from the raid showed nearly 80 satellite dishes on the roof of one building, AFP reported.
Coons made that statement while discussing a separate Senate inquiry into Starlink disruptions affecting Ukraine. Hassan’s investigation concerns the service’s reported use by scam networks in Southeast Asia.
Hassan has publicly called on Musk to cut off Starlink access used by criminal organizations in the region. The committee’s inquiry places the company’s equipment, licensing and oversight practices under congressional examination as lawmakers investigate how the terminals were distributed and operated.
- July: Hassan sent Musk a letter containing 11 questions about Starlink and scam operations.
- July 3-Oct. 1: APNIC data showed Starlink as Myanmar’s largest internet provider each day.
- Oct. 20: Myanmar authorities reported seizing Starlink equipment at KK Park.
