As of Thursday evening, Twitter had blocked the accounts of at least six prominent US journalists. The closures came without warning.
(Photo: dpa)
san francisco Following international criticism, Twitter has reactivated several blocked US journalist accounts. Twitter boss Elon Musk announced the move with reference to a survey of users of the online network, in which a majority of the almost 3.7 million participants, 58.7 percent, had spoken out in favor of an immediate end to the blocks.
The billionaire and Tesla founder announced this in a tweet on Saturday in response to a short-term poll on Twitter, which said he was in favor of immediately unlocking the recently suspended accounts.
Several previously blocked accounts from journalists, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN, could be accessed again on Saturday morning German time. “People have spoken. The accounts that posted my location will now be unblocked,” Musk tweeted.
As of Thursday evening, Twitter had blocked the accounts of at least six prominent US journalists. The Washington Post reported that the closures came without warning. The United Nations then expressed its deep concern about the development of the online network under its new owner Musk.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Reporters should not be silenced by the arbitrary suspension of accounts on a platform that purports to be a space for freedom of expression, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said. The federal government also criticized the closures.
On Wednesday, Twitter blocked an account that could be used to track CEO Elon Musk’s private jet. Some of the temporarily banned journalists reported on it, as well as Musk’s statement that sharing location data had put him and his family at risk.
Musk: Journalists are said to have “doxed”.
In several tweets on Friday night, Musk wrote that the same rules apply to journalists as to everyone else. He was referring to “doxxing,” which is the disclosure of an individual’s personal information, including information such as address. “You posted my real-time exact location, basically the coordinates for an assassination,” Musk wrote. He spoke of a violation of the Twitter terms of use.
Journalist Tony Webster, who was also affected by the lockdown, wrote on Twitter after his unlocking that there had been no “doxxing” – “even though an excitable, unaccountable oligarch said so”.
The online service has developed into an important communication platform in recent years: governments, authorities and politicians use Twitter for their public relations work all over the world. Tech billionaire Musk took over Twitter in October and has been pushing his ideas through the online service ever since.
More: This is how Elon Musk damages Tesla’s image