Elon Musk Bans Accounts Of Several Journalists On Twitter For 'Doxxing' Him

Twitter has banned accounts of numerous journalists who have been covering Elon Musk's takeover of the social media platform.

Journalists from publications like the New York Times and the Washington Post have received suspension notices from Twitter. Elon Musk claimed that this move was in response to an assassination attempt and "doxxing" by journalists who had shared his real-time location at some point.

"Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not," Musk wrote on Twitter.

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Banning spree on Twitter

so far, i¡¯ve been able to confirm about half the accounts suspended posted links to the jet tracker thing in violation of the new doxx¡¯ing policy. unclear just yet about the rest, but i think it¡¯s safe to say the rule is for real. https://t.co/8MDCG19kNO

¡ª Mike Solana (@micsolana) December 16, 2022

They posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service

¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022

Earlier, Musk suspended the Twitter account of Jack Sweeney (@ElonJet), who tracked the location of Elon Musk's jet in real-time. Recently, Twitter updated its privacy provide to prohibit sharing someone's live location, including flight tracking.

AP

Accounts of journalists who were suspended include New York Times reporter Ryan Mac (@rmac18), Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell (@drewharwell), CNN reporter Donie O'Sullivan (@donie), and Mashable reporter Matt Binder @MattBinder. In addition, the account of independent journalist Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) was also suspended.

Also read: Twitter Suspends @ElonJet For Tracking Elon Musk After He Promised Not To Ban It

In addition, Twitter is now blocking links to Mastodon, a service that emerged as a Twitter alternative when Musk took over. Mastodon's official Twitter account was also suspended along with the journalists.

Agreed

¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022

You first lol

¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022

In a Twitter Space conversation with 30,000 listeners, Musk announced - "You doxx, you get suspended. End of story. That's it." He left the discussion shortly after joining it.

Unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time

¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022

Reuters

Later, Musk Tweeted that the suspensions weren't permanent and would likely last for 7 seven days.

Also read: Twitter Ex-Employee Who Spied On Accounts For Saudi Officials, Sentenced 3.5 Years In Jail

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