Twitter on Thursday banned the accounts of more than a half-dozen journalists from news organizations including CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post without explanation
The Twitter accounts of journalists- including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell and other journalists, who covered the social media’s new owner Elon Musk aggressively in the recent weeks, were permanently suspended.
Silencing journalists at Twitter while claiming to be a free speech champion is the latest controversy provoked by Musk since he took over the company, which has seen staffing gutted and advertisers exit.
Some of the journalists had been tweeting about Twitter shutting down an @ElonJet account that tracked flights of billionaire Musk’s private jet and about versions of that account hosted at other social networks.
Twitter did not say why the reporters’ accounts were suspended.
“Nothing says free speech like suspending journalists who cover you,” Sarah Reese Jones of news commentary website PoliticusUSA said in a tweeted response to posts about the suspensions.
Checks at Twitter showed account suspensions included reporters from CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post as well as independent journalists.
“The impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of reporters, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising,” the news organization said in a tweet.
Related video: Twitter abruptly suspends journalists who cover Elon Musk (MSNBC)
Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses the platform.”
CNN said that it has asked Twitter for an explanation of the suspension.
In a statement, The New York Times said it also wanted answers from Twitter regarding the “questionable” suspension of journalists.
Late Thursday, Musk briefly joined a Twitter Spaces conference chat hosted by journalist Kate Notopoulos of Buzzfeed. He reiterated his claims that the journalists Twitter banned were “doxxing” him when they were reporting on the jet tracking accounts being banned.
“There is not special treatment for journalists,” Musk said, after being asked by the Post’s Drew Harwell if he had a connection between the stalking incident and posting of real-time information.
“You dox, you get suspended, end of story,” he added, before abruptly signing out.
The suspensions come as Musk makes major changes to content moderation on Twitter. He has tried, through the release of selected company documents dubbed as “The Twitter Files,” to claim the platform suppressed right-wing voices under its previous leaders.
He has promised to let free speech reign and has reinstated high-profile accounts that previously broke Twitter’s rules against hateful conduct or harmful misinformation, but also has said he would suppress negativity and hate by depriving some accounts of “freedom of reach.”
The nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists, which defends journalists around the world, said Thursday night it was concerned about the suspensions.
“If confirmed as retaliation for their work, this would be a serious violation of journalists’ right to report the news without fear of reprisal,” the group said.
