New York: Elon Musk today chose reply with sarcasm to criticism for suspending half a dozen journalists from Twitter. Days after several journalists from Twitter recently unveiled a policy update prohibiting the sharing of live location information. organisations like CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post lost access to their accounts without any warning, Musk tweeted about the “freedom of speech” of the press.
“So inspiring to see the newfound love of freedom of speech by the press,” tweeted the once wealthiest man of the world.
Musk, who acquired Twitter in October and took it private, accused the journalists of endangering his family. What sparked this latest controversy was the suspension of an account that tracked his private jet. The move was necessary after “a crazy stalker” followed a car carrying one of his children in Los Angeles, said Musk who seemed to put the blame on the account tracking his jet.
“You dox, you get suspended. End of story. That’s it,” he said on a Twitter Space audio discussion late Thursday, referring to the act of disclosing someone personal details online.
Musk targeted journalists from The New York Times, CNN, Washington Post and other outlets after suspending a Twitter account that tracked his private jet using publicly available data — an account Musk had previously said he would leave alone as a demonstration of his commitment to free speech.
“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 travelled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok,” he said yesterday.
Interestingly, Musk tweeted a poll asking users whether to “unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time.” The winning option is “Now” with 43 per cent votes.
Unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022
“If anyone posted real-time locations and addresses of NYT reporters, FBI would be investigating, there’d be hearings on Capitol Hill & Biden would give speeches about end of democracy!” tweeted the billionaire again, replying to the poll.
Twitter recently unveiled a policy update prohibiting the sharing of live location information.
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