Twitter: Elon Musk reinstated several journalist accounts after criticism and a poll

The owner of Twitter, Elon Muskhas said in the last few hours that will reset the accounts of several journalists who had been suspended from the social network for reporting on the mogul and the platform, which led to repudiations from the media, NGOs and the European Union (EU), which threatened sanctions.

“People have spoken. Accounts that have revealed my position will now see the suspension lifted,” the tycoon said after the criticisms that prompted his decision.

Musk had organized a poll on Twitter asking users if he should rehabilitate them now or in a week: almost 59% of the 3.69 million participants they voted to do so immediately.

The tycoon prompted outrage and warnings from the EU and the United Nations after he suspended the accounts of more than half a dozen journalists, some from outlets like CNN, The New York Times or The Washington Post.

Some of the blocked users, such as journalist Aaron Rupar, have already reposted the content.

“I was pretty devastated to be suspended but quickly knew it was going to be okay as I am lucky to have an amazing online community,” the communicator tweeted.

The case that triggered the suspension

This latest in a series of controversies began when Musk suspended the @elonjet account which he self-reported travel by private plane of the businessman, also owner of SpaceX and Tesla.

The world’s richest man justified the decision because the vehicle carrying one of his children through Los Angeles was chased by a “crazy stalker,” an incident he appeared to attribute to the tracking of his private plane.

Some journalists reported on the case, including via tweets that connected to the account @elonjet. Musk accused them of publishing “the coordinates that would allow for an assassination”.

In a live Twitter forum last night, Musk gave no evidence of his allegations and told some of the concerned reporters that if they were able to participate in the discussion spaces of the platform, that they would not receive special treatment for their work.

“Everyone will be treated equally (…) You are not special because you are journalists‘ the businessman said, as quoted by AFP news agency.

But when questioned to provide more details about his allegations, Musk decided to close the discussion and left the forum.

repudiation of the world

The media of the concerned journalists expressed their repudiation of the decision: “The impulsive and unjustified suspension by various reporters such as CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan is disturbing, but not surprising,” the network said in a statement.

“Twitter’s growing instability and volatility is of particular concern to anyone who uses the platform. We have asked Twitter for an explanation and will reevaluate our relationship based on that response,” they added.

“Hopefully, all of these journalists’ accounts will be restored and Twitter will deliver a satisfactory explanation“, said, for his part, Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesman for The New York Times newspaper.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has also called for the restoration of suspended accounts and denounced that the “arbitrariness of large platforms” is a “greater danger to democracy.

With information from Telam