Musk Lifts Suspensions of Journalists After ‘Doxxing’ Accusations: ‘The People Have Spoken’
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Twitter CEO Elon Musk lifted the suspensions of multiple journalists on the platform following a poll where a majority of voters said the accounts should be restored immediately.
In a poll posted this week, Musk asked if the accounts of various journalists suspended from the platform should be restored immediately or in seven days. Nearly 3.7 million users voted, with just over 58 percent calling for the suspensions to end “now.”
“The people have spoken,” Musk tweeted on Saturday. “Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now.”
Multiple suspensions were lifted on Saturday, including one for Aaron Rupar, who claimed getting booted from the platform had a “chilling effect.” The accounts for CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, New York Times reporter Ryan Mac, and The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell were also restored on Saturday morning following Musk’s announcement and poll. Not all of the suspended accounts were immediately restored.
The account for Keith Olbermann was not restored along with the handful of other accounts on Saturday morning. Olbermann has continued tweeting though, taking to an account set up for his dogs to rage against Musk. Olbermann’s last tweet before he was suspended encouraged people to share a tweet containing information about Musk’s location.
The suspensions came after Musk suspended an account on Twitter that tracked the movements of his private jet. He claimed this was “doxxing” and sharing someone’s real-time location was against the company’s platform. Musk booted a handful of journalists who had shared content from the account, sparking a chorus of protests.
