Twitter suspends accounts of several journalists for 'humiliation'

Twitter suspends accounts of several journalists for 'humiliation'

Twitter has suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists who recently wrote about its owner Elon Musk, with the billionaire tweeting that the rules banning the publication of personal information apply to all, including journalists. Musk, who has promoted himself as an advocate for free speech, tweeted: "The same defamation laws apply to 'journalists' as to everyone else," referring to Twitter's rules that prohibit sharing personal information, i.e. doxxing. Musk's tweet referred to the suspension of the @elonjet account on Wednesday, an account that tracks his private jet in real time using data available in the public domain. Musk had threatened to take legal action against the operator of the account, saying his son had been mistakenly followed by a "maniac who was hunting him". It was not clear if all the journalists whose accounts were suspended had commented or shared information about @elonjet. "Criticizing me all day is perfectly fine, but cheating on my real-time location and endangering my family is not," Musk tweeted Thursday. He had written on Twitter last month that his commitment to freedom of expression had been increased and that "even the account tracking my flight has not been blocked, although that is a direct risk to personal security". He emailed on Thursday that there would be a seven-day suspension on doxxing. Following that with a poll asking Twitter users to decide when to restore those accounts. Among the journalist accounts suspended on Thursday was that of Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell (@drewharwell), who wrote on the Mastodon social network about Musk. Twitter also suspended the official account of Mastodon (@joinmastodon), which has emerged as an alternative to Twitter. however, Mastodon could not immediately be reached for comment. Sally Buzbee, editor-in-chief of The Post, said Harwell's suspension undermines Musk's claim that he intended to run Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech. Harwell, however, was able to speak on a Twitter chat with fellow journalists Thursday evening, a chat that Musk himself briefly started.