Elon Musk said on Saturday he will reinstate the Twitter accounts of several journalists that were suspended in a controversy over publishing public data about the billionaire’s plane.
“The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now,” he tweeted.
The suspensions on Thursday evening drew criticism from government officials, advocacy groups and journalism organizations in several parts of the world, with some saying the microblogging platform was jeopardizing press freedom. Officials from France, Germany, Britain and the European Union condemned the suspensions.
The episode, which one well known security researcher labeled the “Thursday Night Massacre”, is being regarded by critics as fresh evidence of the billionaire, who considers himself a “free speech absolutist,” eliminating speech and users he personally dislikes. Shares in Tesla, an electric car maker led by Musk, slumped 4.7% on Friday and posted their worst weekly loss since March 2020, with investors increasingly concerned about his being distracted and about the slowing global economy.
Elon Musk’s Twitter suspension of journalists draws global backlash (newsd.in)
Roland Lescure, the French minister of industry, tweeted on Friday that, following Musk’s suspension of journalists, he would suspend his own activity on Twitter. Melissa Fleming, head of communications for the United Nations, tweeted she was “deeply disturbed” by the suspensions and that “media freedom is not a toy.”
The German Foreign Office warned Twitter that the ministry had a problem with moves that jeopardized press freedom.
