Twitter CEO Elon Musk appeared to backtrack on his promise of being a “free speech absolutist” late Thursday after suspending the accounts of multiple journalists who produced reports on Twitter and its billionaire owner.
The South African entrepreneur officially acquired Twitter in October for some $40 billion. Since then, however, things at the company have appeared to spiral out of control - such as the sacking of about half the company staff and the loss of advertisers.
Musk has taken a sharp turn on what he promised to be a free speech utopia, which he said he envisioned as a “town square” which would police speech in accordance with US laws—but what Musk is now implying is that the site will be moderated based on his laws.
Among the suspended Twitter accounts are: Ryan Mac of The New York Times, Donie O’Sullivan of CNN, Drew Harwell of The Washington Post, Matt Binder from Mashable, Micah Lee of The Intercept and independent journalists Aaron Rupar, Keith Olbermann and Tony Webster. Twitter also suspended the account of Mastadon, a company which rivaled Twitter.
“We hope that all of the journalists’ accounts are reinstated and that Twitter provides a satisfying explanation for this action,” said Charlie Stadtlander, communications director for the Times.
A similar statement was also issued by Sally Buzbee, the executive editor of the Washington Post, who noted that Harwell's suspension "directly undermines Elon Musk's claim that he intends to run Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech."
It wasn’t made clear why Twitter decided to suspend these accounts. However, Musk’s open attacks on the account of @ElonJet on Wednesday have given the public, including site users, a better idea of how Musk actually wants the platform to operate.
While the mogul has had no issue in allowing accounts associated with QAnon and far-right conspiracy theorists to run rampant on his site, journalists who are critical of the richest man in the world are not welcome, and neither are 20-year-olds promoting information which is already public knowledge.
Other accounts that ElonJet owner Jack Sweeney managed also included pages that track planes belonging billionaires Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. All of them have been suspended.
Sweeney says he was not given a specific reason as to why the accounts were suspended and said the suspension felt arbitrary. Of Musk, Sweeney said: “He’s doing the exact opposite of what he said.”
Musk has also been allowing the publication of the “Twitter Files,” which allows select journalists (two so far) to use insider information from Twitter before Musk’s takeover to criticize the site for its decision to protect Hunter Biden during the 2020 election, while claiming that the suspension of former President Donald Trump after the 2021 insurrection was done without proper merit.
Twitter users took to the platform and unloaded their contempt for Musk, calling him “insecure,” a “fascist” and “unhinged.”
“Elon Musk is determined to show us all why billionaires must not be given control of the public square. They will always suppress actual free speech to serve themselves and we must forge a path to public ownership of these spaces,” tweeted @JoshuaPHilll.
Twitter user and BuzzFeed staff member Charlie Warzel tweeted a link to a critical BuzzFeed article from 2018 co-written by Ryan Mac, a journalist whom Musk had suspended, saying: “Anyhow: this is the pattern: a thin-skinned spoiled child whose only real desire is to be at the top of every possible social and economic hierarchy and revered like Edison. And when he doesn't get that, he lashes out.”
“Elon Musk just suspended a bunch of journalists, including Aaron Rupar, who cover him — without any reason. By silencing journalists, it’s clear that Elon Musk doesn’t care about free speech or democracy,” wrote Twitter user @Victorshi2020.
"He only cares about himself. We should all be outraged."