The company did not say why the accounts were suspended, but Musk accused the reporters of sharing his private location data.
16.12. 8:55•Updated 16.12. 14:28
On Thursday, Twitter suspended the accounts of journalists who have written about the social media platform and its owner About Elon Musk critically. The owners of the accounts work for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN news channel and other US media, among others.
The company did not say why the accounts were suspended, but Musk accused the reporters of sharing his private location data.
– The same docking rules also apply to journalists, Musk tweeted on Thursday.
Doxing refers to the unauthorized dissemination of people’s personal information online.
– Criticism is allowed, but spreading my real-time location information and endangering my family is not, Musk continued.
In his tweet, Musk referred to an incident in which Twitter blocked an account that followed Musk’s flights from public sources earlier this week.
Read also: Twitter closed the account that followed the flights of Elon Musk’s private plane
After the incident, the messaging service changed its rules for all users so that sharing other people’s location data is not allowed without permission. Some of the blocked journalists had written about Musk’s new rule from scratch.
One of those fired is a reporter for the Washington Post Drew Harwellwho told On the Mastodon platform (you switch to another service) having recently written about Musk and posted links to publicly available data. Twitter also closed the official account of Mastodon, which has been considered as one alternative platform to Twitter.
Washington Post Editor-in-Chief Sally Buzbe demanded the immediate reinstatement of Harwell’s account. According to him, the suspension of the account undermines Elon Musk’s claims that the platform he leads promotes freedom of speech.
According to CNN’s statement, the “impulsive account closures” are “concerning but not surprising.” The channel demanded an explanation from Twitter, including its own editor Donie O’Sullivan for separation.
Likewise, the technology journalist who was fired on Thursday Matt Binder said he was blocked immediately after the man shared the photo O’Sullivan posted.
Europe criticized Musk’s actions
On Friday, Musk’s actions drew criticism in Europe as well.
Vice President of the EU Commission Vera Jourova described the dismissal of journalists as worrying. Musk should be aware of EU rules requiring freedom of speech on social media platforms, he said.
– There are limits that should not be crossed. And soon also sanctions, Jourova continued.
The German Foreign Ministry also joined the criticism by tweeting that freedom of the press must not be turned on and off arbitrarily. According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ministry opened an account in Mastodon to ensure that it will be accessible in the future as well.
Sources: AP, Reuters
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Modified on 16.12. at 2:27 p.m.: Added EU and German comments.