Twitter suspends the accounts of several journalists without any explanation

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Twitter on Thursday suspended the accounts of journalists covering the social media platform and its new owner Elon Musk, including reporters working for The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and other outlets.

The company did not explain to reporters why it deleted accounts and made their profiles and previous tweets disappear. But Musk took to Twitter Thursday night to accuse reporters of sharing private information about his whereabouts that he described as “basically the coordinates of the assassination.” He has not provided any evidence for that claim.

Twitter also suspended Mastodon’s account, which emerged as an alternative to Twitter. Mastodon could not be reached immediately for comment.

The sudden suspension of reporters followed Musk’s decision on Wednesday to permanently ban an account that automatically tracked his private jet flights using publicly available data. This also led Twitter to change its rules for all users to prohibit sharing another person’s current location without their consent.

Several of the reporters suspended Thursday night had written about that new policy and Musk’s motivation for imposing it, which involved his allegations about a stalking incident he said affected his family Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

“The same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as they do to everyone else,” Musk tweeted on Thursday. He later added, “Criticizing me all day is perfectly fine, but doxxing my location in real time and endangering my family is not.”

“Doxxing” refers to the online disclosure of someone’s identity, address or other personal details.

Washington Post executive editor Sally Buzbee has demanded that tech reporter Drew Harwell’s Twitter account be reinstated immediately. The suspension “directly undermines Elon Musk’s claim that he intends to operate Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech,” Buzbee wrote. “Harwell banned without notice, trial or explanation, following publication of his thorough report on Musk.”

CNN said in a statement that “the impulsive and unwarranted suspension of a number of reporters, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising.”

“Twitter’s growing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern to all who use Twitter,” added CNN’s statement. “We’ve asked Twitter for an explanation and will reevaluate our relationship based on that response.”

Another suspended reporter, Matt Binder of tech news outlet Mashable, said he was banned Thursday night immediately after sharing a screenshot O’Sullivan posted prior to the CNN reporter’s suspension.

The screenshot showed a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department sent to several media outlets on Thursday, including the Associated Press, about how it was in contact with Musk’s representatives regarding the alleged stalking incident, but which had not yet been released. filed no crime report.

“I have not shared any location data, under Twitter’s new terms. Nor have I shared any links to ElonJet or other location tracking accounts,” Binder said in an email. “I’ve been very critical of Musk, but I’ve never broken any of Twitter’s listed policies.”

Binder said a message he received while trying to access his Twitter account showed his suspension was permanent. But Musk later suggested the penalty would last for a week in response to a question about his suspension from former ESPN and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann.

On Thursday, Musk briefly joined a Twitter Spaces conference chat hosted by Buzzfeed reporter Kate Notopoulos. He reiterated his claims that journalists banned from Twitter were “doxxing” him when they reported that jet tracking accounts had been banned.

“There’s no special treatment for reporters,” Musk said, after the Post’s Drew Harwell asked him if he had a connection between the stalking incident and the live information release.

“Dox, get suspended, end of story,” he added, before abruptly logging off. Spaces abruptly ended shortly after 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

“Sorry, it seems the gap has stopped, the screen suddenly went blank on my side and everyone started up,” host Notopoulos tweeted at 9:14pm Pacific time.

Another suspended reporter, Voice of America’s Steve Herman, said he assumed he was banned “because I was tweeting about other journalists suspended for tweeting about starting accounts connected to Elon Jet’s feed.”

The non-profit Committee to Protect Journalists, which defends journalists around the world, said Thursday evening it was concerned about the suspensions.

“If confirmed as retaliation for their work, this would be a gross violation of journalists’ right to report without fear of retaliation,” the group said.

The European Union has warned it could impose “sanctions” on Twitter in response to the suspensions, according to Agence France-Presse.

And Reuters reports that Germany’s Foreign Office tweeted screenshots of suspended accounts and called the suspensions unacceptable. “Press freedom cannot be turned on and off on a whim,” the ministry tweeted on its official account. “Journalists below can no longer follow, comment and criticize us. We have a problem with that, @Twitter.”

The suspensions come as Musk makes major changes to content moderation on Twitter. He has attempted, through the release of company documents dubbed “The Twitter Files,” to claim that the platform suppressed right-wing voices under its previous leaders. The files consist of thousands of internal company documents detailing content moderation decisions.

He promised to let free speech reign and reinstated high-profile accounts that previously broke Twitter’s rules against hateful behavior or harmful misinformation, but also said he will suppress negativity and hate by depriving some accounts of the “freedom to access”.

In a Dec. 2 tweet, Musk wrote about Twitter’s files in response to criticism from some users: “Twitter acting on its own to suppress free speech is not a violation of the first amendment, but acting on government orders to suppressing free speech, with no judicial oversight, is.”

Musk last month reinstated several previously banned accounts, including those of former President Donald Trump, musician Kanye West and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

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