Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk has said he will reinstate the accounts of several American journalists on the social network, following a spate of criticism following the suspension.
“People have spoken. Accounts that posted my location will see their suspension lifted,” the controversial millionaire wrote on Twitter.
On Friday, the EU threatened Musk with sanctions, while the UN denounced the suspension as “a dangerous precedent” after Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists covering the social network and Musk the day before.
Targeted journalists include media professionals such as CNN (Donie O’Sullivan), The New York Times (Ryan Mac), and The Washington Post (Drew Harwell), as well as other independent journalists.
European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova called the decision “worrying” and recalled that there are “red lines” with Elon Musk threatening “sanctions, soon,” in a post on Twitter.
“Press freedom cannot be turned on and off for convenience,” the German Foreign Ministry criticized, also in a post on the social network. “That’s why we have a problem with Twitter,” he added.
In another post, France’s Digital Transition Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said he was “concerned about the drift in which Elon Musk is allowing Twitter to accelerate” and recalled that “press freedom is at the root of democracy”.
Some of the targeted journalists had written about Twitter’s decision to suspend an account following the private jet travels of Elon Musk, who ran the company since last October.
The owner of Twitter published a series of posts indicating that accounts involved in disclosing personal information about an individual on the internet without their consent “will receive a seven-day temporary suspension” and indicated that the rules “apply to journalists” like everyone else. “
“The impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of journalists, such as CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising,” the television channel said in a statement.
“Twitter’s instability and increasing volatility is of particular concern to those using the platform. We have reached out to Twitter for an explanation and will re-evaluate our relationship in light of this response,” CNN added.
A spokesperson for the New York Times, Charlie Stadtlander, said he hoped the journalists’ accounts would be reinstated and that Twitter would provide “a satisfactory explanation.”
When he arrived on Twitter, Elon Musk promised to maintain the @ElonJet account, which automatically tracked the plane’s movements and was created by a college student, with 500,000 followers.
Since he bought the platform for 44 billion dollars (41.5 billion euros), the millionaire has been sending mixed messages about what is and what is not allowed.
Source: DN
