After backlash, Elon Musk reinstates suspended Twitter accounts of journalists
Amid outrage over the suspension of the Twitter accounts of some prominent journalists, Elon Musk has decided to reinstate them. The accounts were suspended after Musk accused the journalists, who have been covering the social media platform and the billionaire, of "violating" the platform's rules. The decision to remove the suspension was taken by Musk following a Twitter poll.
Why does this story matter?
Twitter recently updated its policy, saying it would suspend accounts that share someone's live location except when done for humanitarian efforts or during public events. Journalists whose accounts were suspended had "doxxed" Musk's exact location and written about Twitter's new policy. Musk also claimed that a family member in Los Angeles had been stalked earlier in the week.
The UN and European Union raised concerns
Amid the suspension of accounts of journalists, the United Nations and European Union (EU) raised concerns on Friday. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "very disturbed" by Musk's suspension of journalists from Twitter and called it a "dangerous precedent." The EU also warned Musk that "Twitter could be subject to sanctions under a future media law."
Over 58% of people were against the suspension of accounts
On Friday itself, Musk put up a poll on Twitter asking users to decide whether he should unsuspend accounts who "doxxed" his exact location "Now" or "In 7 days." Of the 3.69 million total votes, 58.7% said "Now," while the rest voted "In 7 days." On Saturday, in his typical dramatic fashion, Musk announced: "People have spoken... accounts will have their suspension lifted now."
Musk asked Twitterati for their opinion on the matter
Who are the journalists whose accounts were suspended?
Reporters whose accounts were suspended belong to leading publications including the Washington Post, CNN, New York Times, Mashable, and Substack. The list included Ryan Mac of The New York Times, Drew Harwell of The Washington Post, Micah Lee of The Intercept, Donie O'Sullivan of CNN, Matt Binder of Mashable, political journalist Keith Olbermann, and a couple of independent journalists.
