'The People Have Spoken': Elon Musk Backtracks Big Time, Brings Back Journalists and Pundits He Just Suspended
Elon Musk is reversing a wave of Twitter suspensions.
The megabillionaire and Twitter owner directed the reinstatement of nine accounts which had been suspended from Twitter earlier in the week on Friday night.
Musk tweeted a Twitter poll seeking input from the public on reversing the suspensions on Thursday.
Unsuspend accounts who doxxed my exact location in real-time
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022
Musk went on to indicate that the poll in question was his basis for reversing the temporary bans, with 58.7 percent of the users calling for the immediate reinstatement of the accounts.
“The people have spoken,” he tweeted. “Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now.”
The people have spoken.
Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now. https://t.co/MFdXbEQFCe
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2022
Musk never said that the suspended accounts in question would be permanently banned from Twitter.
Some of the accounts that were suspended and reinstated include those of Washington Post and New York Times journalists, according to the Daily Mail.
The suspensions roused ire from the establishment media, with CNN releasing a statement threatening to roll back its usage of Twitter.
“Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses Twitter. We have asked Twitter for an explanation, and we will reevaluate our relationship based on that response.”
— Paul Farhi (@farhip) December 16, 2022
Musk previously indicated that the suspended accounts had violated Twitter’s terms of service by posting content that “doxed,” or revealed, his physical location in real time.
The users appear to have shared content posted on other platforms by @ElonJet, a suspended Twitter account that posts the real-time travel information of Musk’s private jet.
In a Thursday Twitter Spaces chat, the megabillionaire clarified that journalists would be held to the same standard of conduct as other users under his administration after the suspensions, citing Twitter’s rules against doxing.
At least one account that had been banned this week remains suspended — that of progressive extremist Keith Olbermann.
Olbermann claimed he had been permanently banned from Twitter in a bizarre video posted on what appears to be his burner account.
THE WEEKEND COUNTDOWN PODCAST PREVIEW: As @pbump writes ‘identifying the location of an airplane provides ‘assassination coordinates’ to, like, the operator of a Patriot missile battery.”
Listen to Apartheid Clyde’s ban insanity on Countdown, here:https://t.co/4Qp9MpgzQr pic.twitter.com/xSmk0V9Bks
— Keith Olbermann’s Dogs (@TomJumboGrumbo) December 17, 2022
A wave of accounts previously permanently suspended under Twitter’s old ownership have been restored since Musk acquired the company in October.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
