Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Nov. 4. The United Nations and the European Union are among the groups that have condemned Elon Musk’s decision to suspend several journalists from the social media platform.
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Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Nov. 4. The United Nations and the European Union are among the groups that have condemned Elon Musk’s decision to suspend several journalists from the social media platform.
David Odisho/Getty Images
Amid intense backlash and accusations of violating press freedom, Twitter has reinstated the accounts of several journalists who were suspended earlier this week.
On Thursday night, the social media platform suspended several reporters who had tweeted or written about Elon Musk’s ownership of the company.
The accounts that went dark included Donie O’Sullivan of CNN; Ryan Mac of The New York Times; Drew Harwell of The Washington Post; Micah Lee of The Intercept; and journalist Aaron Rupar.
On Friday evening, Musk put the decision of whether to reinstate suspended accounts up for a public vote. He tweeted an informal poll which asked Twitter users to choose when to “unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time.”
According to the poll, 58.7% of voters favored lifting the suspensions immediately over 41.3% of respondents who said Musk should wait seven more days.
Rupar, whose account was reinstated on Friday, said the suspensions signaled Twitter’s instability.
“It’s a clear illustration that it is no longer a rules-based company,” Rupar told NPR. “It’s basically a company based on Elon Musk’s whims and the terms of service depend on his mood each day.”
NPR has reached out to Twitter about Musk’s crackdown and was unable to receive a comment.
It all started with Musk’s private plane
Prior to suspending the accounts of journalists, Musk took issue with several accounts that tracked the movement of private planes used by billionaires, government officials and others.
Musk was particularly concerned with the jet-tracking account, @ElonJet, run by a 20-year-old University of Central Florida student, which Musk alleges was used by a “crazy stalker” in Los Angeles to follow one of Musk’s children.
Journalists who tweeted or wrote about Musk’s rift with the account found themselves later suspended.
Musk, a self-professed “free speech absolutist,” has denied accusations that the suspensions were in retaliation for critical coverage. Instead, he argued that the accounts are a “physical safety violation” and can lead to “doxxing,” or sharing of personal information to encourage harassers.
“Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” Musk tweeted Thursday night.
Musk’s crackdown was condemned by the U.N. and EU
A number of organizations around the globe have criticized Musk’s apparent silencing of high-profile journalists on Twitter.
Melissa Fleming, the United Nations undersecretary-general for global communications, said she was “deeply disturbed” by the suspensions.
“Media freedom is not a toy. A free press is the cornerstone of democratic societies and a key tool in the fight against harmful disinformation,” Fleming tweeted on Friday.
Věra Jourová, the European Commission vice president, warned Twitter of potentially violating the European Union’s Digital Services Act and Media Freedom Act.
“There are red lines. And sanctions, soon,” Jourová tweeted Friday.
The suspensions have also drawn outrage from several news organizations that are demanding explanations for why their reporters were temporarily banned.
“Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses the platform,” CNN said in a statement on Thursday. “We will reevaluate our relationship based on that response.”
