Elon Musk’s suspension of journalists’ Twitter accounts sparked outrage

Call this decision aannoyingVice-President of the European Commission Vera Jourova noted that there is Red lines Not to cross, threatening Elon Musk in a tweet almost.

Freedom of the press should not be turned on and off for the sake of convenienceThe German Foreign Ministry denounced it in a tweet on Friday, adding that This is why we have a problem with Twitter.

The case also had ramifications for the House of Commons in Ottawa: Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez confirmed that Journalists must be able to report the news freely as they see it. They must be able to ask tough questions about the facts they observe.

Freedom of the press is absolutely essential to our democracyMr. Rodriguez added.

For its part, Reporters Without Borders called for the accounts of the concerned journalists to be returned, considering that The arbitrariness of the main platforms represents a A great danger to democracyand call take back control from before […] It’s not too late.

Dozens of American journalists have been suspended from the social network. Among them, media professionals such as CNN (Donie O’Sullivan), W The New York Times (Ryan Mack), W Washington Post (Drew Harwell) and independent journalists.

Some tweeted about Twitter’s decision on Wednesday to suspend the account that automatically reported Elon Musk’s private jet trips.

The latter accused them of endangering his safety and that of his family. He claimed in a tweet on Wednesday that a car with one of his children was tracked to Los Angeles Crazy stalkerapparently establishing a causal link with the real-time positioning of his aircraft.

Waiting for explanations

Twitter did not say why these accounts were suspended. But the owner of the social network, which has generated a lot of controversy since its purchase in October, gave some pointers.

Everyone will be treated the sameHe said in an audio chat conducted live on Twitter on Friday, indicating that there will be no free pass for journalists. After relaunching on the subject, Mr. Musk left the discussion. He then deactivated the Twitter Spaces voice chat service, claiming that the Technical problem.

In a tweet posted overnight Thursday through Friday, Mr. Musk announced a temporary 7-day suspension accounts involved Duxing.

term ” Duxing Public disclosure means the public disclosure of an individual’s personal information on the Internet without their consent.

They shared my exact geolocation in real time, no assassination coordinates, in direct violation [et évidente] Twitter Terms of ServiceMusk confirmed.

The Twitter account of Mastodon, the social network’s competitor, has also been suspended.

The hasty and unjustified comment of a number of reporters such as the journalist [du journaliste] CNN’s Donnie O’Sullivan is disturbing but not surprisingCNN responded in a press release.

” Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility is a particular concern for anyone using the platform. We have asked Twitter for clarification, and will re-evaluate our relationship based on this response. »

We hope that the accounts of all these journalists will be restored and that Twitter will provide a satisfactory explanation.said the spokesperson The New York TimesCharlie Stadtlander.

CNN said it would reassess its relationship with Twitter once it provides an explanation for the suspended accounts.

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Photo: Getty Images/SeanPavonePhoto

Contradictory statements

After the tracked car incident involving his son, Mr. Musk announced in this tweet that he would sue the person behind the now-suspended ElonJet account. (A new window).

Created by a student and tracked by about 500,000 people, @ElonJet uses public data to automatically indicate when and where the SpaceX and Tesla president’s hardware took off and landed.

Twitter later reported that its policy now blocks most Tweets that show someone’s real-time location.

When he got to the top of Twitter, Elon Musk promised not to touch the @ElonJet account.

Since taking over the platform for $44 billion, the billionaire has sent mixed messages about what is and isn’t allowed.

An ardent advocate of great freedom of expression, and as long as the notes respect the law, he has restored previously banned accounts on social media, Including Donald Trump.

But he Kanye West also commented After posting several messages deemed anti-Semitic she refused to return to the platform of far-right conspirator Alex Jones.