Twitter Suspends Multiple Journalists Over Musk Jet-Tracking Coverage
Elon Musk suspends several prominent journalists from Twitter after they cover a sudden policy change targeting accounts that share private jet flight data. Press freedom advocates strongly condemn the move as petty and dangerous.
Twitter owner Elon Musk suspends the accounts of several high-profile journalists who cover the billionaire and his leadership of the social media platform. This sudden action follows a change in Twitter's policy regarding accounts that share the real-time travel locations of private jets using publicly available data. Musk states that anyone who violates this new rule faces a seven-day suspension from the service.
The affected reporters include prominent media figures such as Donie O'Sullivan of CNN, Ryan Mac of the New York Times, and Drew Harwell of the Washington Post. These journalists face suspension after they tweet or write articles about the growing conflict between Musk and the popular jet-tracking account. Some suspended reporters, like Aaron Rupar, express confusion over the ban and note that they merely shared links to the tracking account's social media pages.
Press freedom advocates quickly criticize the mass suspensions as a disturbing attack on the media. Jameel Jaffer of the Knight First Amendment Institute calls the move petty and disgraceful, while Nora Benavidez of Free Press warns that punishing journalists based on personal animus sets a dangerous precedent. These experts argue that silencing critical voices endangers the public's right to know about the chaotic events happening inside Twitter.