Musk unlocks banned journalist accounts

As of Thursday evening (local time), Twitter has blocked the accounts of at least six prominent US journalists. The Washington Post reported that the shutdowns came without warning. The United Nations later expressed its deep concern over the development of the online network under new owner Musk. He’s rowing now.

UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said reporters should not be silenced by the arbitrary suspension of accounts on a platform that claims to be a site for freedom of expression. The federal government has also criticized the shutdowns.

Twitter on Wednesday blocked an account that could be used to track CEO Elon Musk’s private jet. Some of the temporarily banned journalists had covered it, alongside Musk’s statements that he and his family were in danger due to the sharing of location data.

“Different rules” should apply to journalists

In several tweets on Friday night, Musk wrote that the same rules apply to journalists as they do to anyone. He was referring to “doxxing”, which refers to the disclosure of a person’s personal information, including information such as an address. “You sent my exact real-time location, basically the coordinates of an assassination,” Musk wrote. He talked about the violation of Twitter’s terms of use.

Journalist Tony Webster, who was also affected by the blocking, wrote on Twitter after he unblocked that he wasn’t “doxxing” “even if an easily excited, irresponsible oligarch said so”.

The online service has become an important communication platform in recent years: governments, officials and politicians all over the world use Twitter for their public relations work. Tech billionaire Musk took over Twitter in October and has been communicating his ideas through the online service ever since. (SDA)