Late Thursday, Twitter suspended the accounts of at least half a dozen journalists, citing a violation of its “doxxing” policy.
The suspended accounts were mostly from reporters who reported on or tweeted about Elon Musk’s dispute with a Florida college freshman Jack Sweeney who tracks the tech mogul’s private jet flights.
During his dispute with Sweeney and the since-suspended @ElonJet account, Musk had threatened to suspend all Twitter accounts that posted real-time information on a person’s whereabouts.
Musk posted the following message in response to tweets about journalist bans: “They posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service.”
“7-day suspension for doxxing. Some time away from Twitter is good for the soul,” Musk added in a follow-up tweet.
Many journalists were blocked, including Ryan Mac of The New York Times, Donie O’Sullivan of CNN, and Drew Harwell of The Washington Post.
Aaron Rupar, Keith Olbermann, Tony Webster, Micah Lee from The Intercept, and Matt Binder from Mashable have also appeared to have their accounts suspended.
What specifically they may have posted that allegedly broke the “doxxing” rules was unknown.
During a Twitter Spaces conference chat, several banned journalists asked Musk questions late Thursday.
Musk again accused those suspended for doxxing him while they reported on the jet tracking account being suspended.
According to Harwell of the Washington Post, he only reported on the suspension of the @ElonJet account and not Musk’s real-time location.
“There is not special treatment for journalists,” a defiant Musk said.
“You dox, you get suspended, end of story,” he added before leaving the chat.
Later that night, CNN released a statement that blasted the “impulsive and unjustified” suspension of the journalist.
“Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who used Twitter,” the statement read. “We have asked Twitter for an explanation, and we will reevaluate our relationship based on that response.”
Sally Buzbee, the executive editor of The Washington Post, echoed those concerns about her reporter, adding that the suspension undermines Musk’s pledge to protect free speech.
“Harwell was banished from Twitter without warning, process or explanation, following the publication of his accurate reporting about Musk,” Buzbee said. “Our journalist should be reinstated immediately.”
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