Twitter Suspends Accounts for Mastodon, Journalists Who Cover Elon Musk

UPDATE 2: Twitter’s owner Elon Musk claims Mastodon and the journalists were suspended for breaking the platform’s rules against “doxxing,” or the act of publishing someone’s private, identifying information that could put them in harm’s way.

“Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” he wrote(Opens in a new window). However, Musk says(Opens in a new window) the suspensions will only last for seven days.

In another tweet, Musk added(Opens in a new window): “Same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else.”

He later alleged(Opens in a new window) of the journalists: “They posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service.”

Tweet(Opens in a new window)

However, there doesn’t appear to be evidence that the journalists published Musk’s exact real-time location. In one case, the suspended journalist Micah Lee tweeted(Opens in a new window) out the Mastodon handle for the @ElonJet account while covering the company’s decision to suspend the Mastodon account on Twitter.

Other screenshots of the last tweets(Opens in a new window) from(Opens in a new window) some(Opens in a new window) of the journalists show them merely criticizing(Opens in a new window) Musk or reporting on his claim that an alleged stalker followed a car carrying one of children.

In the meantime, Twitter now seems to be blocking users from tweeting out links to accounts on Mastodon.

(Twitter)

UPDATE 1: Twitter has also suspended accounts belonging(Opens in a new window) to journalists from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and Mashable who regularly cover Elon Musk and Twitter.

So far, the social media company has given no reason for the crackdown. But the journalists have been critical of Musk’s takeover of Twitter.

Tweet(Opens in a new window)

At least two of the journalists, including Mashable’s Matt Binder(Opens in a new window), had also tweeted out a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department that potentially cast doubt on Musk’s claim that a stalker had followed a car carrying his child. Both journalists’ accounts were subsequently suspended.

(Twitter)

Original story:

Twitter has suspended the account for rival social network Mastodon. 

The suspension targets the @joinmastodon(Opens in a new window) account, which has been urging users to join Mastodon, especially after Elon Musk acquired Twitter. 

So far, Twitter has given no explanation for the suspension. But it might be because @joinmastodon encouraged users to visit the recently banned @ElonJet account, except on Mastodon, where it remains available(Opens in a new window). 

In addition to the suspension, trying to tweet out a link to the @ElonJet account on Mastodon triggers a block under the claim it poses potential harm, preventing the link from circulating.

(Twitter)

The day before, Twitter permanently suspended the @ElonJet account for tracking the location of Musk’s flights. The company did so despite Musk saying he wouldn’t ban the account, citing the need to protect free speech over the social media platform. 

“My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,” Musk tweeted(Opens in a new window) on Nov. 7.

However, Musk has since changed his mind, saying a “crazy stalker” had followed a car carrying one of his children the night before. In response, the company introduced a new policy that prohibits sharing real-time location information on a person, including their live travel routes.

“Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation,” Musk said in a tweet(Opens in a new window) explaining the new policy. “This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.” 

Tweet(Opens in a new window)

Still, Musk is receiving criticism for backing away from his pledge to protect free speech on Twitter. The owner of the @ElonJet account, a college student named Jack Sweeney, has argued all the flight data information is already publicly available. Nevertheless, Twitter decided to not only shut down @ElonJet, but also Sweeney’s personal Twitter account, along with numerous other accounts that track jet flights for VIPs.   

The company has now decided to go after Mastodon, a rival social network that has been receiving a flood of new users ever since Musk took over Twitter. Eugen Rochko, the founder of Mastodon, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.