USA: Twitter suspends journalists account for "violating Twitter's rules"

UPDATED 19.12.22 Several prominent US journalists' Twitter accounts were suspended on Thursday 15 December without notice for allegedly violating Twitter's rules. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the controversial decision which could have a chilling effect on free speech and anyone who wants to cover and comment on Twitter's CEO's activities. The accounts were restored on 18 December.

Screenshot Twitter

According to media reports, the accounts of journalists Ryan Mac (The New York Times),  Donnie O'Sullivan (CNN), Drew Harwell (The Washington Post), Matt Binder (Mashable), Micah Lee (The Intercept), Linette Lopez (The Insider) and journalists  Keith Olbermann, Aaron Rupar and Tony Webster  were suspended on 15 December for "violating twitter's rules". None has received an explanation for the suspension.

All accounts except Linette Lopez' were reinstated on 17 December following protests and Musks' poll on twitter which showed a majority of respondents wanting the accounts to be restored immediately. 

"The moves came a day after Twitter suspended more than 25 accounts that tracked the planes of government agencies, billionaires and high-profile individuals, including that of Mr. Musk", the New York Times said. 

Some of the journalists had reported about the account @elonjet which tracked Twitter's CEO Elon Musk's jet flights and which has also been suspended. Some had reported on Musk's takeover of Twitter in October and the changes Musk has made to the company since then.

Rival social media company, Mastodon 's account has also been suspended.

On 15 December, Musk tweeted that "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" 

 

 

Doxxing is the sharing of personal information , which is banned under Twitter's rules

“Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” Musk tweeted on Thursday.

In a statement issued on 26 April, IFJ said Twitter was an extension of journalists’ offices. "This is where journalists promote their work, express ideas or find sources of information", the Federation said. 

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellaner said: " Musk's decision to  suspend journalists' accounts is highly controversial and will have a chilling effect on anyone who wants to cover and comment on Musks' activities. As the sole owner of the platform, Musk can reinvent the rules, suspend accounts and seriously harm media pluralism, thus denying twitter users the right to freedom of social and political use they previously enjoyed."

On 12 December, Elon Musk dissolved Twitter's Trust and Safety Council, composed of 100 volunteers from independent civil, human rights and other organizations that the company formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, dehumanization and other problems on the platform.

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 146 countries

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