There is a historic irony surrounding today as the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773) and Elon Musk suspending the accounts of multiple journalists who violated the Twitter terms of service about publicly releasing private information without consent. To say the ‘splodey heads are epic, would be an understatement.
After several ‘mainstream’ journalists began spreading the physical location of Elon Musk, his airplane travel and his family location, Twitter began suspending all accounts that were affiliated with promoting the activity. Several high follower journalists were -by their own expressed conduct- caught up in the account suspensions, some permanently, and the resulting outrage over their claimed curtailment of speech has exploded the universal hypocrisy continuum.
Demands for reinstatement by allies of the suspended accounts stretch from threats to “haul Musk before congress,” to foreign government demands. While demanding to see the manager, CNN’s Oliver Darcy contends that Twitter cannot exist without the journalists Mr. Musk has now removed.
White knuckled fists are clutching pearls tightly.
New York – […] Speaking with anchor Jim Sciutto about several journalists, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, having been suspended under Elon Musk‘s newly minted policy about posting real-time location info, Darcy made clear that Musk is playing with fire and could get burned.
“This is raising a number of issues,” said Darcy. “Obviously it highlights how Musk doesn’t really have that commitment to free speech that he said he does. But it also raises questions about what the future of the press looks like on Twitter.” (more)
Apparently, the world will not exist without journalists being able to push their narrative engineering efforts through the social media platform.
Putting Mr. Musk’s ultimate long-term motives in a box over in the corner of the room just so that we can enjoy this moment, the billionaire space entrepreneur will never exceed today’s creation of smiles regardless of his electric cars or the eventual goal of a human population on the Martian landscape.
The insufferable meltdowns on The Twitter are worthy of a stack of screengrabs that would fill a library of congress.
WASHINGTON DC – Twitter suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists and pundits on Thursday night, prompting criticism from lawmakers and bewilderment from several of the reporters taken off the platform.
“Twitter had become the heartbeat of news and society. Banning journalists for doing their jobs is not the free speech Elon Musk promised,” journalist Tony Webster, who was permanently suspended Thursday, said in an email.
Webster, like others who found their accounts suspended, said he received no explanation of the social media platform’s decision. New York Times technology reporter Ryan Mac, Washington Post technology reporter Drew Harwell, CNN politics and technology reporter Donie O’Sullivan, Voice of America correspondent Steve Herman and commentator Keith Olbermann were among those whose accounts went dark.
Webster said he had been tweeting about @ElonJet, an account that tracks Musk’s private jet, prior to the removal. Other journalists who faced suspension had also recently tweeted critically about Musk, or had referenced the jet-tracking account — which Musk has argued endangers his personal safety. (read more)
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Well done Mr. Musk, well done. 
