Twitter on Thursday suspended the accounts of journalists reporting on the social media platform and its new owner, Elon Musk, including those working for the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and other publications.
The company did not explain why it deleted the accounts and made their profiles and previous tweets disappear.
CP24 reported that the journalist’s sudden suspension follows Musk’s decision Wednesday to permanently deactivate an account that automatically tracks his private jet flights using publicly available data.
Several reporters who were suspended Thursday night wrote about the new policy and Musk’s rationale for introducing it, including his allegations of a stalking incident involving his family in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
"Same doxxing rules apply to `journalists' as to everyone else," Musk tweeted Thursday. He later added, "Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not."
“Doxxing” refers to online disclosing someone's identity, address, or other personal details.
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CNN said in a statement that “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 incredibly concerning for everyone who uses Twitter,” CNN added. “We have asked Twitter for an explanation, and we will reevaluate our relationship based on that response.”
Another suspended journalist, Matt Binder of the tech news outlet Mashable, said he was banned Thursday night immediately after sharing a screenshot that O’Sullivan had posted before the CNN reporter’s suspension.
The screenshot showed a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department sent earlier Thursday to multiple media outlets, including The Associated Press, about how it was in touch with Musk’s representatives about the alleged stalking incident but that no crime report had yet been filed.
“I did not share any location data, per Twitter’s new terms. Nor did I share any links to ElonJet or other location-tracking accounts,” Binder said in an email. “I have been highly critical of Musk but never broke any of Twitter’s listed policies.”
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Suspensions occur when Musk makes major changes to Twitter’s content moderation. He attempted to argue that the platform had suppressed right-wing voices by publishing handpicked company documents called “Twitter files.” He promised to exercise his freedom of speech but indicated that he would take steps not to reinforce misinformation.
-CP24
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