Deletions of journalists’ accounts definitely do not end on Twitter. After several accounts were restored on Saturday, December 17, a new journalist lost access to her Twitter this Sunday. “Elon Musk has suspended my Twitter account,” Taylor Lorenz, who covers the tech industry for The Washington Post, wrote on her blog.
The multi-billionaire boss of the platform responded publicly on Twitter that this is a “temporary suspension due to a previous disclosure of personal data by this account”, and that this measure “will be lifted soon”. He was responding to a user who asked him about the subject.
Taylor Lorenz explains that she asked Elon Musk a question via Twitter, for an article she is writing, because she could not reach him through traditional channels. “My colleague Drew Harwell, who has also been suspended, and I are working on a story involving Musk and were hoping to get some input from him. We have tried to reach him several times by email over the past few days, ”explains the journalist.
“At 8:30 p.m. (01:30 GMT) I tried to reach him on Twitter for a comment,” she says, posting a screenshot of her Tweet, in which she asks to be able to talk to discuss the subject she is working on. “When I logged on (to Twitter) to see if he had responded to our request, I was suspended. I have not received any communication from the company about the reasons for my suspension or the terms that I violated,” adds Taylor Lorenz.
Elon Musk earlier in the week suspended the Twitter accounts of several journalists, whom he accused of putting his family at risk. The controversy began on Wednesday when the boss of Tesla and SpaceX announced that he was suspending @elonjet, an account that automatically reported the journeys of his private jet. Some accounts then tweeted about the decision. These were reinstated on Saturday, but some said they were told to delete certain posts if they wanted to make full use of the platform.
Elon Musk had drawn the wrath of the European Union and the UN by suspending the accounts of journalists from CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post in particular, the Vice-President of the European Commission even threatening him with sanctions .
