Twitter blocks accounts of several American journalists

According to US media reports, Twitter has blocked the accounts of at least six US journalists. Employees of large media groups are affected.

The short message service Twitter has blocked the accounts of several prominent journalists. The profiles that were shut down included accounts of employees of the New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN. The blockades occurred without warning, wrote the “Washington Post”, for example, and without precise reasons.

Just the day before, Twitter had blocked an account tracking flight data from CEO Elon Musk’s private jet. Some of the now-suspended journalists have reportedly written about Musk’s comments that he and his family were at risk by sharing location data. Before its ban, many of the journalists had tens of thousands of followers on the platform, the New York Times wrote.

Several US outlets reported that Twitter did not initially respond to requests for a direct statement. However, Musk wrote in several tweets overnight that the same rules apply to journalists as everyone else. He was referring to “doxxing,” which is the disclosure of a person’s personal documents, including information such as his address.

“You posted my exact location in real time, basically the coordinates of an assassination attempt,” Musk wrote, without providing any details or evidence. Musk spoke of a violation of Twitter’s terms of use. It was initially unclear if the accounts were permanently locked.

“Today’s suspension of the Twitter accounts of several prominent journalists, including The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, is questionable and unfortunate,” the newspaper’s spokesman, Charlie Stadtlander, said Thursday night. Twitter did not provide an explanation for the move.

The bans are expected to be lifted. “The impulsive and unwarranted suspension of several reporters, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising,” CNN wrote.

The Twitter account that followed Musk’s private jet was created by student Jack Sweeney, who used an automated computer bot to analyze publicly available flight data. Musk had stated in a tweet on Wednesday night that the disabled bot account had violated the Internet platform’s user guidelines.

The Twitter chief announced in November that he was so committed to free speech that he would allow the account, even though it posed a security risk.