Journalists from CNN, The New York Times, Washington, and other outlets who are covering Twitter and its new chief Elon Musk, have been suspended from the platform on Thursday, reported first by AP.
The bird app took down the accounts, rendering the reporters' profiles and previous tweets unavailable. The company has not yet issued an official statement regarding this matter.
(Photo : SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)
This illustration photo taken on August 5, 2022 shows a cellphone displaying a photo of Elon Musk placed on a computer monitor filled with Twitter logos in Washington, DC.
The move comes after Musk decided on Wednesday to permanently restrict an account that automatically tracked the movements of his private jet using data that was open to the public.
On Wednesday, Twitter also modified its policies to make it illegal to share someone else's present location without that person's permission.
The new policy and Musk's justification for it, which included his claims about a stalker episode that allegedly occurred against his family on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, were covered by the journalists who were suspended from Twitter.
"Same doxxing rules apply to 'journalists' as to everyone else," the billionaire said in a tweet.
He adds that "criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not."
Doxxing is the act of publishing someone's name, address, or other personal information online.
News Outlets' Responses
CNN did not take this move lightly. The outlet's spokesperson said in a statement that the suspension is "concerning but not surprising. Twitter's increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses Twitter."
The suspension of journalists, according to a New York Times spokesperson, is "questionable and unfortunate."
They claim that neither Ryan Mac, the suspended reporter, and The Times have been given an explanation for why this happened. The outlet hopes that Twitter will eventually reinstate all of the journalists' accounts and provide a convincing justification for its decision.
The suspension move comes at the heels of Twitter's decision to block an account belonging to Mastodon, the app's rival, on Thursday.
The Mastodon account stated that users could follow @ElonJet, the account that monitors Musk's personal aircraft on its network, following the billionaire's Wednesday Twitter suspension of the account.
Another journalist who has been suspended, Matt Binder of the tech news website Mashable, claimed he was promptly barred on Thursday night after sharing a screenshot that Donnie O'Sullivan had published before the CNN journalist was suspended.
The screenshot contains a statement that the Los Angeles Police Department gave to several media outlets earlier on Thursday. It stated that although it had spoken to Musk's agents about the suspected stalking incident, no crime reports have been filed.
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