Twitterโs unprecedented suspension of over twenty prominent journalists citing they had violated rules against โdoxxing,โ has drawn swift backlash from around the world
Washington [US]: Twitterโs unprecedented suspension of over twenty prominent journalists citing they had violated rules against โdoxxing,โ has drawn swift backlash from around the world.
This comes after the accounts belonging to CNNโs Donie OโSullivan, The New York Timesโ Ryan Mac, The Washington Postโs Drew Harwell and other journalists who have covered Musk in recent weeks were all permanently suspended. The account of progressive independent journalist Aaron Rupar was also banned. Many journalists and media institutions reacted to the suspension of various journalistsโ Twitter accounts.
Taking to Twitter, Sally Buzbee, executive editor of The Washington Post said, โThe suspension of (Washington Post reporter) Drew Harwellโs Twitter account directly undermines Elon Muskโs claim that he intends to run Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech,โ Axios reported.
Meanwhile, FOX News said, โTABLES HAVE TURNED: Elon Musk suspends CNN, NYT, WaPo journalists, reminding them the rules also apply to them.โ
Reacting to the suspension of one of its journalistโs accounts, CNN said that it will โre-evaluateโ its relationship with Twitter.
โThe impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of reporters, including CNNโs Donie OโSullivan, is concerning but not surprising. Twitterโs increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern to everyone who uses Twitter. We have asked Twitter for an explanation, and we will re-evaluate our relationship based on that response,โ the statement read.
Not only media institutions but also officials from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United Nations and the European Union condemned the suspensions, with some saying the platform was jeopardising press freedom.
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Joining the UN, European Union also condemned the suspensions of journalistsโ Twitter accounts. Vice-President for Values and Transparency in the EU Commission, Vera Jourova threatened Musk that Twitter could soon face sanctions under new EU regulations.
โNews about the arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying. EUโs Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced under our #MediaFreedomAct @elonmusk,โ she tweeted.
Earlier, the United Nations slammed Twitterโs act and said that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is โvery disturbedโ by Elon Muskโs suspension of journalists and calls it a dangerous precedent, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday.
โWe are very disturbed by the arbitrary suspension of accounts of journalists that we saw on Twitter,โ Stephane Dujarric said during a press briefing.
Dujarric said media voices should not be silenced on a platform that professes to be a space for freedom of speech. The spokesperson said this move sets a dangerous precedent at a time when journalists all over the world are facing censorship, physical threats, and even worse
Meanwhile, the French Minister of Industry Roland Lescure tweeted on Friday that following Muskโs suspension of journalists, he would suspend his own activity on Twitter, according to Al Jazeera.
The German Foreign Office warned Twitter that the ministry had a problem with moves that jeopardise press freedom.
The suspensions stemmed from a disagreement over a Twitter account called ElonJet, which tracked Muskโs private plane using publicly available information, Al Jazeera reported.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by HW News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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