Elon Musk chose sarcasm as his response to criticism for suspending a half-dozen journalists from Twitter today. Musk tweeted about the press’s “freedom of speech” just days after several journalists from prominent organisations such as CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post lost access to their accounts without warning.
So inspiring to see the newfound love of freedom of speech by the press 🥰
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022
“So inspiring to see the newfound love of freedom of speech by the press,” tweeted the once wealthiest man of the world.
Musk, who bought Twitter in October and turned it private, accused the journalists of putting his family in risk. The suspension of an account that tracked his private jet ignited the latest scandal. The change was required when “a crazy stalker” followed a car transporting one of Musk’s children in Los Angeles, according to Musk, who appeared to blame the account tracking his flight.
Some journalists reported on the stoppage of the jet tracker, which Musk said was “assassination coordinates” for his family, but gave no evidence to back up his assertion.
“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. Posting locations someone travelled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok,” he said yesterday.
Interestingly, Musk asked users to vote on whether to “unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time.” With 43% of the vote, “Now” is the winning option.
Unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022
Given that Musk reactivated the accounts of former US President Donald Trump and others following a similar poll, any additional developments on the suspension of journalists are awaited.
“If anyone posted real-time locations and addresses of NYT reporters, FBI would be investigating, there’d be hearings on Capitol Hill & Biden would give speeches about end of democracy!” tweeted the billionaire again, replying to the poll.
Twitter has updated its policy to prohibit the sharing of real-time location data.
Musk lost the top spot on the global wealthy list this week to Bernard Arnault, the CEO of Louis Vuitton’s parent company, LVMH. This comes after he sold $3.6 billion in Tesla stock. He has raised $20 billion so far by selling shares in his electric vehicle company.
According to recent rumours, Twitter is also looking for additional stock investors.
