Tech

Elon Musk’s Suspension Of Journalists Exacerbates Global Conflict

Published

1 year ago

December 17, 2022

Elon Musk's Suspension Of Journalists Exacerbates Global Conflict

(CTN NEWS) – On Friday, Twitter suspended at least five journalists for allegedly revealing the real-time location of its owner Elon Musk.

The decision drew swift criticism from government officials, advocacy groups and journalism organizations around the globe.

The suspensions were condemned by officials from France, Germany, Britain, and the European Union, with some claiming the platform jeopardized press freedom.

Everybody sticking around Twitter because they didn't want to cede the space should probably take account of this Thursday Night Massacre and move their main posting elsewhere.

You can find me at:https://t.co/tRrvGDI7UV https://t.co/YLWzu6BgWW

— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) December 16, 2022

According to critics, the episode, which one security research called the “Thursday Night Massacre”, demonstrates the billionaire’s dedication to eliminating speech and users he does not agree with.

Tesla (TSLA.O), an electric carmaker led by Elon Musk, slumped 4.7% on Friday and posted its worst weekly loss since March 2020, as investors worried about his distraction and a slowing global economy.

In response to Musk’s suspension of journalists, France’s industry minister Roland Lescure tweeted last Friday that he would suspend his Twitter activity.

Suite à la suspension de comptes de journalistes par @elonmusk, je suspends toute activité sur @Twitter jusqu’à nouvel ordre.

— Roland Lescure (@RolandLescure) December 16, 2022

United Nations communications chief Melissa Fleming tweeted that the suspensions were “deeply disturbing” and that media freedom is not a toy.

https://twitter.com/MelissaFleming/status/1603763517642907655?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1603763517642907655%7Ctwgr%5E9748e7ed18d8b6aba2b04eb0dd5eb1af866bfa4c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Ftechnology%2Felon-musks-twitter-suspension-journalists-draws-global-backlash-2022-12-16%2F

Twitter was warned by the German Foreign Office that moves that jeopardized the freedom of the press were unacceptable.

Elon Musk’s private plane was tracked by a Twitter account called ElonJet, which used publicly available information to track his plane.

Twitter suspended the account and others that tracked private jets on Wednesday, despite Elon Musk’s previous tweet saying he would not suspend ElonJet.

A few days later, Twitter changed its privacy policy to prohibit sharing “live location information.”

Last night, car carrying lil X in LA was followed by crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked car from moving & climbed onto hood.

Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2022

On Thursday evening, several journalists, including those from the New York Times, CNN, and the Washington Post, were suspended from Twitter without explanation.

Twitter’s trust and safety head, Ella Irwin, told Reuters overnight that the team manually reviewed “any accounts” that posted direct links to the ElonJet account in violation of the new privacy policy.

Irwin wrote, “I understand the policy is primarily focused on journalist accounts, but we apply it equally to non-journalists.”

In a statement issued on Friday, the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing said Twitter’s actions violated the First Amendment.

And the principle is that social media platforms should allow the unfiltered dissemination of information already in the public realm.

He said the journalists posted his real-time location, which is “basically assassination coordinates”.

A Twitter Spaces audio chat hosted by journalists, in which Elon Musk briefly appeared, quickly became a contentious discussion about whether the suspended reporter exposed Musk’s real-time location.

Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.

Posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2022

In response to questions, Musk repeatedly stated, “If you dox, you get suspended. That’s it.” A dox is a malicious publication of someone’s private information.

By posting a link to ElonJet, Drew Harwell, a Washington Post journalist who had been suspended but could join the audio chat, pushed back against the idea that he had revealed Musk’s location.

BuzzFeed reporter Katie Notopoulos, who hosted the Spaces chat, tweeted that the audio session had been abruptly cut off.

Musk tweeted, “We are fixing the legacy bug. Should be working tomorrow.”.