While there has been no official word from Twitter or even from Musk regarding this news, it isn’t a new thing either.
The inner scoop
The journalists in question has had their entire profiles and past tweets deleted. Some of these journalists are reporters from The New York Times, CNN and even Washington Post. The suspension of these news reporters from Twitter is only in line with the Musk step of permanent ban on the account that had tracked his private jet with use of publicly accessible data. The account is question came with the handle name ElonJet.
The build up analyzed
Earlier, Musk stated that it was a test of his commitment to allow free speech on Twitter, when he said he would allow ElonJet to continue Twitter posts. However, recently, besides banning the account, he also went head to sue its creator. The confirmation of the account ban came from Jack Sweeney, the owner of ElonJet. He made the statement on Mastodon, a rival Twitter platform.
A change in Musk’s mood
This is a surprise after Musk’s such reported statement that read, “ My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk.” The latest statement from Musk, post the ban reads, “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.” Musk supposedly got miffed after a crazy stalker followed his son’s car assuming that Musk senior was in the vehicle. He believes that location sharing in real time could contribute to compromise in safety of his family.
An end note
On Wednesday, Twitter altered its internal rules for ensuring that unconsented location sharing of any individual would be prohibited. Among the journalists who got accounts suspended, were reported who wrote about this new policy change. They also analysed Musk’s motive begin the same. Musk had alleged that such stalking had affected the safety of his family too.
