Twitter Imposes Bans on Journalists from CNN, New York Times, and Washington Post Without Providing Reason
In a series of unexpected moves, Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, has caused a stir by banning several top-level reporters from leading wire services and an emerging competitor, Mastodon. The suspensions occurred after Twitter shut down an account belonging to Mastodon on Thursday.
The bans have raised questions about the future of the Twitter platform and Musk's commitment to free speech. Aaron Rupar, an independent progressive reporter, was also among those banned. The affected reporters include Donie O'Sullivan from CNN, Ryan Mac from The New York Times, and Drew Harwell from The Washington Post, among others.
The reasons for the bans were not specified by Twitter or Musk. However, it is known that Musk introduced new plans to outlaw accounts that track individuals' online places, including the account @ElonJet, which was banned from Twitter on Wednesday. The Mastodon account had earlier tweeted about following @ElonJet after its ban.
Musk tweeted that the 'same doxxing regulations apply to 'reporters' as to everyone else,' in reference to the now-banned flight tracking Twitter account. He also reinstated previous Twitter rule-breakers and stopped implementing the platform's plans forbidding Covid-19 false information.
The bans have sparked concerns about the chilling effect they could have on independent journalists, particularly those who cover Elon Musk's other companies like Tesla and SpaceX, as stated by O'Sullivan. Some Twitter users reported that the system had begun intervening when they tried to publish links to their own profiles on alternative social networks, including Mastodon.
CNN and The New York Times have asked Twitter for an explanation and threatened to reassess their partnership with the platform. Notably, the Facebook accounts of journalists Donie O'Sullivan, Ryan Mac, Drew Harwell, and Aaron Rupar were banned by Facebook itself on Monday, December 12, 2022.
Harwell tweeted before his account was removed that 'Free speech is when the world's second-richest man threatens legal action against a 20-year-old college student for sharing openly available data he does not like,' referring to Jack Sweeney, the university student who runs @ElonJet. CNN's O'Sullivan had interviewed Sweeney and his grandmother about the issue before his account was suspended.
A CNN reporter was blocked from sharing a Mastodon profile link and was given an automated error message that said Twitter or its partners had determined the website as 'potentially harmful.' As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how these developments will shape the landscape of social media and journalism.
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