In a significant attempt by new Twitter owner, Elon Musk, to wield his authority over the platform, Twitter has banned the accounts of CNN, NYT and Washington Post journalists who tracked his movement and shared his live location.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the ban was noticed on Thursday evening, December 1.
Accounts belonging to CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell and other journalists who have covered Musk aggressively in recent weeks were all abruptly permanently suspended. The account of progressive independent journalist Aaron Rupar was also banned.
Musk claimed that the journalists had violated his new “doxxing” policy by sharing his live location, amounting to what he described as “assassination coordinates.”
Even though Donie O’Sullivan did not share the billionaire’s live location.
Shortly before his suspension, O’Sullivan reported on Twitter that the social media company had suspended the account of an emerging competitive social media service, Mastodon, which has allowed the continued posting of @ElonJet, an account that posts the updated location of Musk’s private jet.
Twitter bans accounts of CNN, NYT and Washington Post journalists who tracked Elon Musk’s movements and shared his live location
Doxxing refers to the practice of sharing someone’s home address or other personal information online. The banned account had instead used publicly available flight data, which remain online and accessible, to track Musk’s jet.
“The impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of reporters, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising. Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses Twitter,” A CNN spokesperson said.
A New York Times spokesperson called the mass bans “questionable and unfortunate”, noting that neither The Times nor Ryan has received any explanation about why this occurred.
“We hope that all of the journalists’ accounts are reinstated and that Twitter provides a satisfying explanation for this action,” the spokesperson said.
“Elon says he is a free speech champion and he is banning journalists for exercising free speech. I think that calls into question his commitment” Harwell said.
Rupar, too, said he had heard “nothing” from Twitter about the suspension.
The @ElonJet account, which had amassed more than 500,000 followers, was permanently suspended Wednesday after Twitter introduced a set of new policies banning accounts that track people’s live locations.
