Musk reactivates suspended journalists on Twitter after launching query

thumbs up or thumbs down. Elon Musk presented a similar verdict on Twitter to a dozen journalists. The businessman suspended the accounts of several whistleblowers on Thursday without warning for allegedly violating the rules of the social network it bought in October. His silence on well-known headline reporters like CNN, Washington Post why new York Times, among others, raised concerns around the world over the gesture threatening freedom of expression. Faced with these tensions, Magnate submitted to counseling to have the sentence lifted. More than 3.6 million users participated in the survey. 59% took the side of journalists. thumbs up. The reporters return, but Musk’s record remains.

“The people have spoken,” Musk said tonight after the poll closed, which was active for 24 hours. “The penalty for accounts sharing my location will be removed,” said the businessman. This was the second poll. He did a similar drill (with the same result) on Thursday night, but wanted to repeat it because the previous one offered too many options. The accounts were returned immediately.

Aaron Rupar wrote after returning to the stage, “I want to thank everyone for their support and kind words.” “Initially, I felt very sad to be shocked, but soon I realized that everything will be alright,” said the freelance journalist with nearly 800,000 followers.

For Musk, the issue was an alleged violation of Twitter’s code of conduct, which was revised on Wednesday night following the incident involving X AE A-12, one of his 10 children. The businessman revealed that day that the minor had been followed in Los Angeles by the driver of a Hyundai, who then blocked the car’s path and climbed on the hood. The tycoon targeted Jack Sweeney, the user behind the @ElonJet account, which follows the tycoon’s private plane trips in real time. “Legal action has been taken against organizations that harmed Sweeney and my family,” Musk wrote.

Twitter not only removed the account operated by Sweeney, but also his personal account. On Wednesday, the social network removed 25 users who, according to the company, shared personal information in real time, something known in the network’s jargon as doxxing, Musk revealed Friday night that the social network would allow users to block and silence those who pay for a Twitter Blue subscription, which costs $11 a month. These actions can be used to punish the opinions of other users.

On Thursday night, while many were demanding an explanation for the suspension of journalists writing about technology, it was revealed that the punishment was the reason. The source was Musk himself, who joined the Spaces conversation (the Twitter function that allows audio) to talk about it. “In future there will be no distinction between journalists, or those calling themselves journalists… all will be treated equally. They are not special, they are citizens like everyone else. If you share location you will be suspended. End of story”, said the tycoon among hundreds of participants. Some of these journalists were banned from Twitter.

When reporters started asking questions to Musk, he walked out of the conversation. To the surprise of many the Spaces function disappeared minutes later. He returned several hours later, around noon Friday, when Musk announced that he was they were able againBut it still had problems. From Katie Notopoulos, Journalist buzzfeed which hosted Musk’s explanation, claimed on Friday afternoon that his account had been banned from Spaces violated the forum rules,

Several journalists who were suspended, and who returned to the stage today, defended themselves by maintaining that they did not share the location of Musk’s private plane in real time. This is the case of journalist Lynette Lopez business Insider, which was removed from Twitter this morning. “I wasn’t tweeting about his location, but court documents from one of his lawsuits against one of my sources and where Elon himself threatens to reveal personal information of his critics. His security team, Lopez said on MSNBC also admits she hacked, harassed and threatened my sources, including her emails and pictures of her children. Economics columnist admits some documents she posted online show Tesla owner Email address may be included.

Something similar has been said by Steve Herman, one of the journalists affected by this newspaper. journalist from Washington Post Drew Harwell, who was suspended, added context to the debate by saying that his newspaper has previously used public information from private plane flights for news stories. In March this year, he followed a plane carrying Donald Trump that had to make an emergency landing in New Orleans due to engine problems. In 2018, he published a story about the newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, and his twelve monthly flights in his Gulfstream G650ER, most of which were bound for Los Angeles.

The sentence seems to have confirmed the conviction of many of those affected. From Ryan Mack, Journalist new York Times He was expelled from the social network and later sent a message from an alternate account: “I write about Elon Musk and his companies and I will continue to do so.” The secondary account was also removed.

Tony Webster, a student at the University of Wyoming who is also a photographer and journalist, has doubled down after the suspension. The youth has stated that he will continue to use an ADS-B receiver to follow the aircraft in his environment and with the support of public information. “Tracking is protected by the First Amendment and has facilitated a lot of reporting,” Webster wrote on Mastodon, a fledgling social network that many have moved to following Elon Musk’s Twitter stint.

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