Twitter reinstated the accounts of most of the journalists it suspended on Thursday. On Friday, Elon Musk posted a Twitter poll in which a majority responded that the suspensions should be lifted immediately. Musk had accused the reporters of endangering his life by linking to an account that provides a live tracker to his private jet. Twitter, however, required the journalists to either remove the offending tweets or lodge an appeal before they could start tweeting again. This is one independent journalist, Aaron Rupar, who was suspended by Twitter for one day, speaking on MSNBC after his account was restored.
Aaron Rupar: “I think what this will end up doing, which is unfortunate, is have a chilling effect on coverage of Elon Musk, because now, you know, if I’m in a position to either publish a newsletter or tweet that is looking at him harshly, I have to think twice and wonder if he can manipulate the terms of service kind of on the fly to come up with a reason to ban me.”
One reporter, Business Insider’s Linette Lopez, is still blocked on Twitter; she has reported critically for years on Elon Musk and his businesses. Meanwhile, officials from France, Germany, the U.K., the EU and the United Nations condemned Twitter’s crackdown on journalism.