Twitter suspends half a dozen journalist accounts

The social media service, which is owned by Elon Musk, said it was suspending accounts that "violate Twitter's rules," but don't did not provide details.

SAN FRANCISCO - Twitter suspended the accounts of about half a dozen prominent journalists on Thursday, the latest change made by the media service social media under its new owner, Elon Musk.

Suspended accounts included Ryan Mac of The New York Times; Washington Post's Drew Harwell; Aaron Rupar, freelance journalist; CNN's Donie O'Sullivan; Matt Binder of Mashable; Tony Webster, freelance journalist; Micah Lee of The Intercept; and political journalist Keith Olbermann. It was unclear what the suspensions had in common; each user's Twitter page included a message that they had suspended accounts that "violated Twitter's rules".

The actions came a day after Twitter suspended more than 25 accounts that tracked the planes of government agencies, billionaires and public figures, including that of Mr Musk. Many of the accounts were run by Jack Sweeney, a 20-year-old student and flight-tracking enthusiast who used Twitter to post updates on the location of Mr Musk's private plane using publicly available information .

Last month, Mr. Musk said he would allow the account that tracked his private plane to remain on Twitter, although he said that was a a security threat. “My commitment to free speech even goes so far as not to ban the account that follows my plane, even if it poses a direct risk to personal safety,” he said in a tweet at the time. /p>

But he changed his mind this week, after claiming that a car one of his sons was traveling in had been accosted by a "crazy stalker". On Wednesday, Mr. Musk tweeted that any account that posts "real-time location information about anyone will be suspended as a breach of physical security." This includes posting links to sites with real-time location information. on these accounts. Some have also written articles criticizing Mr. Musk and his ownership of Twitter. Many of them had tens of thousands of followers on the platform.

Mr. Musk did not respond to a request for comment, and Twitter did not respond to an email for comment. In a tweet, Mr Musk said Twitter's rules on 'doxxing' - which refers to sharing someone's personal documents, including information such as their address - 'apply to 'journalists'. as well as everyone." He did not elaborate.

"The suspension tonight of the Twitter accounts of a number of prominent journalists, including Ryan Mac of the New York Times, is questionable and unhappy," Charlie said. Stadtlander, spokesperson for the Times. "Neither the Times nor Ryan have received an explanation as to why this happened. We hope that all reporters' accounts will be reinstated and that Twitter will provide a satisfactory explanation for this action."

A representative for The Post did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kristine Coratti Kelly, a spokeswoman for CNN, said the suspensions were "worrying but not surprising" and that "Twitter's growing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern to anyone who uses it." During an appearance on CNN after his account was suspended, O'Sullivan said Twitter's actions could intimidate journalists who cover businesses owned by Mr. Musk.

"I was disappointed to see that I was suspended from Twitter without explanation," said Mr. Webster, whose account was suspended, in an emailed comment. He added that he had tweeted about the Twitter account that followed Mr. Musk's private plane before his suspension.

Mr. B...