Latest Twitter controversy: Rival Mastodon and prominent journalists banned
Twitter just had a very busy and chaotic day. The social media site went on a banning spree that resulted in the suspension of its rival Mastodon and a number of prominent journalists. The suspensions were unexpected and without any notification. Most of the accounts suspended posted links to @ElonJet, an account that tracks Elon Musk's private jet.
Why does this story matter?
Twitter is in the middle of yet another controversy. This time, it started with an account tracking the new CEO's private jet. The company even brought in a new policy to ban that account. Interestingly, Musk had earlier said that he doesn't mind such accounts. The present suspension of Mastodon and journalists put a question mark on Twitter's free-speech credentials, again.
Mastodon tweeted a link to @ElonJet before suspension
Mastodon is an open-source rival of Twitter and has gained popularity after Musk's takeover of Twitter. Its Twitter account (@joinmastodon) was suspended soon after it tweeted a link to @ElonJet on its own service. The ban on Mastodon is a continuation of the recent controversy surrounding the jet tracking account. The platform has also banned @ElonJet and its creator Jack Sweeney.
Twitter blocked Mastodon links
Twitter wasn't done with just suspending Mastodon. The platform went a step further by blocking links to several servers of its rival. Users received an error message when they attempted to tweet Mastodon links. The message read, "we can't complete this request because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially harmful."
Some journalists shared Twitter handles of Mastodon, ElonJet
Twitter put a period to its banning spree by suspending the accounts of some prominent journalists. They were banned without a warning or explanation. Some of the suspended journalists tweeted about Mastodon's suspension, while others shared Mastodon's and ElonJet's Twitter handles. Suspended journalists include The New York Times' Ryan Mack, CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, Washington Post's Drew Harwell, and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, among others.
Twitter prohibits sharing of live location
Following the ElonJet controversy, Twitter came up with a new policy that prohibits sharing the live location of individuals. Considering the lack of human moderation on Twitter these days, the accounts of journalists may have been suspended automatically. Or, the ban could be a conscious decision by Musk. It seems that the latter is a more plausible explanation than the former.
Looks like the ban wasn't automated
Suspended accounts doxxed my real-time location: Musk
Speaking about the ban on journalists, Musk made it clear that they were suspended for doxxing his real-time location. However, it isn't clear why Twitter suspended those who didn't share Musk's live location. Twitter is yet to say anything about how long the ban will last. Musk conducted a poll among his followers to decide the duration of the ban.
