A number of prominent journalists who have reported on Twitter and its new CEO Elon Musk appear to have been suspended or banned from the platform without explanation. The Twitter account for rival social media company Mastodon, where some Twitter users have migrated since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, also appears to have been suspended.
The accounts of tech journalists at CNN, the Washington Post, Mashable and the New York Times were suspended in quick succession Thursday night. All had recently published articles about Musk’s suspension of a Twitter account that shared publicly available data about the movements of his private jet. Each of these articles highlighted the tension between Musk’s stated commitment to “free speech” and his choice to ban an account he personally disliked.
Ryan Mack, a tech reporter for the New York Times, wrote on a new Twitter account that he received “no warning” before his account was suspended and that he received no communication from the company as to why his account was ” permanently suspended’. He said the company’s action would not change his job, which includes reporting “on Twitter, Elon Musk and his companies.”
Some people have asked, so will try to answer here:-This is the notification on my account.-I didn’t get a warning.-I have no email or message from the company about the reason for the suspension.-I am reporting to Twitter, Elon Musk and his companies. And I will continue to do so. pic.twitter.com/Fz14nStH7U
— Silenced Ryan Mac (@MacSilenced) December 16, 2022
“Tonight’s suspension of the Twitter accounts of a number of prominent journalists, including Ryan Mack of the New York Times, is questionable and unfortunate,” Charlie Statlander, a spokesman for the New York Times, said in a statement. “Neither the Times nor Ryan has been given an explanation as to why this happened. We hope that all journalists’ accounts have been restored and that Twitter provides a satisfactory explanation for this action.
The Washington Post reported that technology reporter Drew Harnell was also suspended “without warning or explanation.”
“Criticizing me all day is perfectly fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” Musk tweeted Thursday evening in response to a comment from another tech journalist that Musk “has started to bans journalists who have criticized him”.
Musk did not clarify how he believed the suspended reporters shared his “real-time location.”
At least two of the reporters whose accounts were suspended reportedly tweeted a public statement from the Los Angeles Police Department in response to a claim made by Musk about an incident in Los Angeles in which he said that a stalker targeted a car believing it was his.
Other journalists suspended around the same time Thursday included political commentator Keith Olbermann, Intercept reporter Micah Lee and independent reporter Aaron Rupar, who wrote on his Substack that Twitter had informed him he was “permanently suspended” and that “posted a tweet late last night noting that Musk appears to have violated Twitter’s policy against posting footage of someone without their consent in a tweet he posted yesterday.”
Donnie O’Sullivan, the CNN reporter whose account was suspended, is one of the nation’s leading reporters on conspiracy theories and disinformation, and reportedly shared a comment from the Los Angeles Police Department about Musk shortly before he was suspended. Matt Binder, the Mashable reporter whose account was suspended, “was tweeting about O’Sullivan’s suspension when his account also went dark,” the Washington Post reported.
Twitter, which recently disbanded most of its press department, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The move comes after the platform banned an account known for posting details about the movements of Musk’s private jet, raising questions about how much control the CEO has over moderating content on the platform.
Re: banning reporters who tweeted about Elon Musk’s plane, Twitter’s head of trust and safety Ella Irwin tells me: “Without commenting on any specific accounts, I can confirm that we will suspend any accounts that violate our privacy policies. privacy and will put other users at risk.”
— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) December 16, 2022
But Twitter’s head of trust and safety told the Verge, “Without commenting on any specific accounts, I can confirm that we will suspend any accounts that violate our privacy policies and put other users at risk.”
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