AOC clashes with Elon Musk after Twitter boss suspends journalists
Rachel Schilke
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called out Elon Musk after the Twitter CEO suspended the accounts of several high-profile journalists.
Musk has suspended the accounts of Ryan Mac of the New York Times, Donie O’Sullivan of CNN, Drew Harwell of the Washington Post, Matt Binder of Mashable, Micah Lee of the Intercept, Steve Herman of Voice of America, and independent journalists Aaron Rupar, Keith Olbermann, and Tony Webster.
Musk said he suspended them under “doxxing” violations, in which people reveal nonpublic personal information. The move drew severe criticism from news organizations and political officials, including Ocasio-Cortez.
“You’re a public figure. An extremely controversial and powerful one,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “I get feeling unsafe, but descending into abuse of power + erratically banning journalists only increases the intensity around you. Take a beat and lay off the proto-fascism. Maybe try putting down your phone.”
https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1603605552289849345
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Her tweet was in response to Musk stating the journalists were posting “assassination coordinates” for people to use “in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service.”
Musk also banned the Twitter account for Mastodon, a platform advertised as a Twitter alternative, and NBC journalists found they were unable to tweet any links to the platform, according to the outlet.
The Twitter mogul joined a Twitter Space discussion hours after suspending the journalists, facing off with one of the suspended journalists. He sharply responded to a question and logged off mere minutes after joining.
“You doxx, you get suspended. End of story. That’s it,” Musk said, explaining his latest policy that turned heads two days ago after appearing to be created for personal reasons.
On Wednesday, Musk suspended the personal account of Florida college student Jack Sweeney, 20, and his account that he used to track Musk’s public jet — despite earlier in November vowing not to do so. However, the account was reinstated by the evening, with the CEO vowing to take legal action.
“Last night, car carrying lil X in LA was followed by crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked car from moving & climbed onto hood,” Musk wrote on Twitter. “Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.”
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Washington Post Executive Editor Sally Buzbee condemned Musk’s actions via Twitter on Thursday night.
“The suspension of Drew Harwell’s Twitter account directly undermines Elon Musk’s claim that he intends to run Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech,” she wrote. “Harwell was banished from Twitter without warning, process or explanation, following the publication of his accurate reporting about Musk. Our journalist should be reinstated immediately.”