Source: SOPA Images / Getty / Elon Musk
Elon Musk is flexing his power as the owner of Twitter. After changing the rules to benefit him in the guise of protecting people’s privacy, Twitter banned several prominent journalists.
Thursday evening Elon Musk’s Twitter set off a firestorm as one-by-one journalists who were critical of the bored billionaires running the social media platform accounts were suspended.
Among the unfortunate victims of Musk’s bitterness were CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The New York Times‘ Ryan Mac, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, and other journalists covering the SpaceX owner since his acquisition of Twitter.
Independent journalist Aaron Rupar’s account, was also shut down.
So what did they do?
Musk took to his platform to explain in a series of ridiculous tweets that the journalists violated the recently implemented “doxxing” policy when they allegedly shared his “exact real-time” location, describing them as “assassination coordinates.”
Despite his claims, none of the banned journalists appeared to have shared Musk’s precise real-time location.
Elon Musk Also Apparently Disabled Twitter Spaces
Musk took his bitterness to a Twitter Spaces discussion about the bans and was put in the hot seat by journalists in the room. Still not having clear reasoning for his actions, Musk left the conversation, and shortly after, the Twitter Spaces feature was disabled.
Coincidence? We think not.
Before his account was suspended, O’Sullivan reported that the account for Mastodon, a rising social media platform in the wake of Musk’s takeover, was shut down by Twitter.
Mastodon is continuing to allow @ElonJet, an account run by an Elon Musk fan that shares the location of Bootleg Tony Stark’s private jet, to post on its platform.
The so-called champion of free speech first claimed he would not ban the account.
Musk has run polls on his Twitter account asking users if he should “unsuspend” the accounts. Currently, the vote is at 58% for the immediate return of the accounts.
Elon Musk is putting on a masterclass on how not to run a social media platform.
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Photo: SOPA Images / Getty