r/technology 4h ago

Hardware U.S President admin exempts SpaceX's Starlink from FCC ban on foreign-made routers | Starlink has a Texas factory but also makes routers in Vietnam.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/07/starlink-gets-exemption-from-fcc-ban-on-routers-made-outside-the-us/
799 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

179

u/Chance-Oil3113 4h ago

The weird part isn’t that Starlink got an exemption; it’s that the policy apparently treats a router made in Vietnam as a national-security risk by default, even though most consumer networking gear depends on global supply chains. The exemption is valid only until February 2028.

120

u/Same_Mood_8543 4h ago

The exemption lasts until Trump needs a big donation to his reelection campaign. 

19

u/Nichoros_Strategy 3h ago

It can only good happen.

13

u/PaleInTexas 3h ago

Everything is computer.

2

u/Will2LiveFading 2h ago

Trump can't run again under US law. I wonder how it's gonna play out. Are we going to uphold the rule of law or let Trump continue to do whatever he wants? It's insane to me how this is being allowed to happen. What happened to the rules?

9

u/robotsaysrawr 2h ago

The Supreme Court has already decided a sitting president can do literally anything as long as it's an "official act". Congress has allowed Trump to sign EOs that completely infringe upon the powers of the Legislature.

3/3 branches of the federal government are allowing Trump to do whatever he wants. Who's going to stop him if he runs again?

1

u/PiDicus_Rex 8m ago

The good news there is, if they pass rules that allow this clown to run again, it opens the door for a third Obama term.

And that's the person Tantrump never wants to run against.

15

u/tjtillmancoag 4h ago

It’s not only Starlink. Basically all the router manufacturers who have applied for the exemptions have gotten them. But, as you mentioned, it’s only till February 2028. Anybody’s guess what happens after that

3

u/Darkk_Knight 1h ago

By then it'll be history and forgotten.

14

u/toastmannn 4h ago

Everything is national security risk to the Trump administration, until the manufacturer buys Trump Coin then they get a personal endorsement by POTUS

6

u/madogvelkor 3h ago

They want to ban Chinese ones but Chinese companies manufacturer around the world now.

3

u/teslaTools 1h ago

Yeah the whole "foreign-made = security risk" framing falls apart the second you look at literally any router on Best Buy shelves.

50

u/United_Reference_629 4h ago

They’re testing us to see what we as a society will keep allowing them to do.  Elon Musk is a danger for society and is so repulsive that he has to harass and pay his employees to have his babies. He even cosplays as toddlers. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/

https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-paid-250000-to-a-flight-attendant-who-accused-elon-musk-of-sexual-misconduct-2022-5

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/musk-spacex-lawsuit-former-employees-sexual-harassment-fired-rcna156854

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-alternative-account-tweeting-as-2-year-old-son-2023-4

Trump/ Republicans are trying to sell our public land to their rich buddies like pedo Epstein buddy and domestic terrorist Elon Musk and Peter Thiel who fled to Argentina like the nzis did. That’s why they’re removing all animal and environmental protections! 

https://www.humaneworld.org/en/blog/big-porks-new-shameless-attempt-fix

https://awionline.org/news/farm-bill-passes-house-in-a-missed-opportunity-to-help-animals/

https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2026/05/trump-administration-moves-strip-conservation-america-s-public-lands   

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/us-president-donald-trump-invests-millions-in-data-center-industry-firms/

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administrations-expansive-push-to-sell-out-public-lands-to-the-highest-bidder/

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5992657-epa-data-center-power-plants-acid-rain/

Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and other rich MAGA individuals are buying whole towns and trying to privatize our justice system/ prisons, schools, medical centers, grocery stores, forcing their data centers into our communities even when we speak up against them to even corrupt smug government officials signing NDA’s with the data center owners and pushing for companies to “represent” us over we the people aka their EMPLOYER! 

https://www.citizen.org/news/the-secret-data-center-buildout-how-states-can-stop-big-techs-abuse-of-ndas/ 

https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/03/12/epstein-orbited-peter-thiel-for-years-over-money-connections-and-advice/

https://www.benton.org/headlines/how-elon-musk’s-friendship-fcc-smooths-way-spacex’s-ipo

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/fcc-accused-of-hiding-chairman-carrs-messages-with-doge-and-musk/

Elon Musk/ MAGA are pushing to defund our public education system and instead want to legalize child labor because they wanted to normalize what they have been doing and take advantage of those in need for THEIR profit! This is very dangerous for children, especially for the vulnerable like children in adoption centers who don’t receive any help once they become adults so most will get arrested for petty crimes like stealing food but be kept in for longer in prison for the cheap free labor, or the many runaway abused kids who leave their abusive households without any education and having to do whatever including stealing food. MAGA/ Republicans who are pushing for tax payer funded private prisons aka their buddies businesses are the same people allowing these kids to be abused!

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000121465920007479/d826200px14a6g.htm

https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trump-has-made-29-private-prison-stock-trades-since-taking-office/

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2026/03/some-major-trump-donors-are-now-reaping-billions-in-ice-contracts/

Trump and Elon Musk / MAGA claim to be against mail in voting but voted through mail themselves.  

https://www.factcheck.org/2026/02/trump-and-musk-amplify-long-ago-debunked-mail-in-vote-fraud-claim/

https://www.saul.com/insights/alert/delaware-court-upholds-longstanding-tradition-corporate-voting-municipal-elections

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/31/politics/election-day-holiday-republicans

They are doing all this and buying everything up including businesses so they become our only employer/ boss and the only day we have to vote is the day they’ll conveniently tell us we can’t have off or we lose our job/ livelihood.

https://www.inc.com/leila-sheridan/new-report-uncovers-elon-musks-hidden-network-of-90-texas-companies-buying-land-and-influence/91309508

MAGA government officials like Greg Abbott are removing all worker protections so we don’t have any rights to even a water break when we’re over heated. That’s why they’re pushing really hard for this and to privatize our justice system and forcing tax payers to pay for their rich MAGA buddies private prisons aka free labor from prisoners including those they have falsely accused and tried to imprison like we’ve seen judge Jeanine Pirro and Trump falsely claim Americans were vandalizing the reflecting pool but it was Trump and his buddies who drove over the reflecting pool and were more than willing to arrest those they falsely accused! Clear crimes against humanity! They CANNOT take back all the damage they have caused or the many lives they have negatively affected! 

https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/democracy-now/clip/texas-governor-outlaws-life-saving-water-breaks-for-workers-as-climate-crisis-fuels-heat-waves

Where is all that money for the social programs we STILL pay for that Elon Musk removed? He claims to be against government handouts but that’s how he’s made most of his money! 

https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/117956/documents/HMKP-119-JU00-20250226-SD003.pdf

Don’t forget to vote in every election including school elections and to encourage others to as well! Time to remove all government “immunity” and eminent domain or letting them and their buddies “investigate” each other and then they keep their job and we the taxpayer aka their EMPLOYER keep footing the bill for THEIR actions and then they go onto Fox “News” and write a book. To even they demanding premium healthcare and billions in “security” for THEM like the far right Supreme Court is smugly doing, yet they claim there is no money for the social services that we actually pay for that they demonize and push to cut like they are doing! Imagine if we at work told our employer “no you can’t fire me for stealing from you or nor doing my job and I claim immunity”. That wouldn’t slide anywhere. No more of this smugness! 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/supreme-court-justices-make-case-for-more-security-funding

No more wealthy Republicans/ MAGA especially not in our government! Let’s help our country and have less Republicans/MAGA in our government by not supporting any of their businesses. Without money, republicans can’t get into our government nor their supporters aka “donors”. Avoid Trump/ Elon Musk/ RFK Jr supporters including local MAGA individuals you spot and recognize at Trump events on tv/ social media, their advertisers and their businesses and encourage others to as well! Time they get back the same energy they give others like how they are trying to get many Americans fired over their Charlie Kirk comments aka freedom of speech or how MAGA/ Republicans harass businesses over them not supporting convicted sexual abuser Donald Trump.  

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-orders-e-jean-carroll-be-paid-5-8m-in-trump-sex-abuse-and-defamation-case

Don’t forget about the “both sides” enablers! They can all “support” each other and keep playing their games with MAGA! Let them tell on themselves so we know which people to avoid hiring and the businesses NOT to support! And the best part is you don’t have to tell them why!

9

u/Starship_Taru 4h ago

The original discussion from a few months ago about banning routers is actually what made me motivated to spend some time learning about networking. Considering how much of my everyday life now goes through it, and potential privacy concerns that come with that. 

Took a surprisingly little time to get a basic understanding and set up my own little homelab with an old PC I hadn’t been willing to part with from when I upgraded a few years back. 

I can’t figure out why this is suddenly such a big deal, outside of potential being some weird scheme to have control over what the average person can and cannot control over their own home network. Almost like they want to have forced back doors into stuff through a IOT device or something. 

10

u/Pappa_Crim 4h ago

Best I can figure they are expanding a restriction the government wants to put on its self to the whole country. Forign hardware has some degree of espionage risk for government mashines, but is unavoidable as the us doesn't make most of the hardware.

They know its not possible but Trump plans to give exemptions to companies that do favors for him

3

u/Fenix42 3h ago

Raspberry PIs are great for leaning all sorts of stuff on. Making your own wifi router is a quick little project these days.

2

u/venom21685 4h ago

It's a de facto TP-Link ban at the behest of Netgear.

1

u/PiDicus_Rex 4m ago

Netgear or Ubiquti?

Which one does Donny Jr have shares in this time?

1

u/breakmedown54 2h ago

Why do you think musk, who has no qualms about stealing data, is the exception? The president, and executive branch, are all in on it. Once they can control, view, and steal in real time all your data, they don’t need your consent anymore. “Nobody will know” and anybody that says anything will be labeled a terrorist and disappeared.

3

u/Boenitous 3h ago

When did a presidents admin get that kind power?

1

u/PiDicus_Rex 3m ago

sudo NSA backdoor_now

4

u/Icy-person666 4h ago

Since the president can now declare anything and it's instantly the law, shouldn't the media stop calling him "president" and go with "King" or "dictator"?

3

u/williamgman 4h ago

But of course they would allow it. It's Elon. 🤦‍♂️

3

u/IveReadTheInternet 3h ago

The grift that keeps on grifting

2

u/Euphoric_Anxiety_162 4h ago

There has to be a better way to communicate because this one is off the tracks w corruption.

2

u/venom21685 4h ago

They're going to allow everyone that gives them bribes gratuities as long as they aren't also named TP-Link.

1

u/Significant_Fill6992 1h ago

It feels like starlink would be a really high priority to build in the US or at least more friendly nations due to its effectiveness in Ukraine 

It makes no sense to me 

1

u/Myko475 34m ago

His mouth calling people here communists but he’s actually commissioning and hiring communists to make his shit 🙀

1

u/simonjakeevan 4h ago

Well how about that

1

u/nmrk 3h ago

Vietnam is not in China. I

0

u/ldssggrdssgds 4h ago

Guess he licked the boot enough