CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan discussed his permanent ban on Twitter Thursday night immediately after he and numerous other journalists were kicked off the platform.
The network’s reporter covering the intersection of politics and technology said he did not know why he was booted by Elon Musk, but he warned if the ban is upheld, it could have a “chilling impact” on journalists.
On AC360, host Anderson Cooper noted numerous reporters who cover Musk had been banned without explanation. Those banished included O’Sullivan, Drew Harwell of the Washington Post, Ryan Mac of the New York Times, and the social media platform Mastodon.
Cooper also noted Twitter had banned Jack Sweeney, who has been tracking the movements of Musk’s private jet using publicly available tools and sharing the information online. Cooper addressed Sweeney’s activities with O’Sullivan, and noted, “Apparently Elon Musk did not like that.”
“Yeah,” O’Sullivan responded. “So, what’s basically happened is that just really over the past hour or so, as the number of journalists at national news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and here at CNN, have been permanently banned it seems, suspended from Twitter. Now, all those journalists, including myself, happen to be people who cover Elon Musk. This is Elon Musk, of course, the free speech activist.”
O’Sullivan referenced comments made Wednesday in which Musk said those
He sad he was concerned about the repercussions if the bans of he and others are upheld to be permanent.
“Just like when Trump got kicked off, we can post elsewhere,” he said. “I do think this is very important about the potential chilling impact this can have for freelance journalists, independent journalists around the world, particularly journalists who cover Elon Musk’s other companies like Tesla and SpaceX. I think this can have a real chilling factor.”
Moments after O’Sullivan’s interview on CNN, Musk confirmed Thursday’s bans are permanent.
Watch above, via CNN.