The blocking of the accounts of more than half a dozen prominent journalists, including the newspapers “New York Times” and “Washington Post” and the broadcaster CNN, had triggered great outrage far beyond the United States. Criticism came from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, EU representatives and the German government, among others.
Despite Musk’s about-face, the United Nations remained concerned. “There are still serious concerns,” said UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk on Twitter on Saturday. He called on Musk to set out a policy of publishing for the online service he acquired earlier this year. This must take legal principles and freedom of expression into account.
Musk justified his about-face with the results of a survey he initiated himself. “The people have spoken,” he wrote. According to him, almost 59 percent of the 3.69 million participants spoke out in favor of releasing the accounts again.
Musk justified the ban by saying that the journalists disseminated information about his location in real time, endangering his safety and that of his family.
Musk initially blocked the user account @ElonJet on Wednesday, on which a young US student documented the flights of Musk’s private jet. Several journalists had reported on the student’s activities – and in some cases linked the blocked @ElonJet account.
The multi-billionaire accused the journalists he blocked of having provided the “coordinates for an assassination attempt” against him and his family. Musk also said the lockdown was necessary after a car carrying one of his children was chased by a “crazy stalker” in Los Angeles, California. Musk did not provide any evidence for his allegations.
Not all of the blocked journalist accounts were released again on Saturday. Some of the affected media representatives were able to tweet again, but the accounts of Linette Lopez from “Business Insider” and former MSNBC moderator Keith Olbermann continued to be blocked.
CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan reported that although his Twitter account is visible again, the service has imposed conditions on him to be able to post messages there again. Twitter is asking him to remove one of his earlier messages, which the company says violates Twitter policies.
Musk has thrown the short message service, which is widely used by governments, politicians and journalists worldwide, into chaos since the takeover for 44 billion dollars (around 41 billion euros). He fired top management and around half of the workforce.
Musk had some previously blocked accounts, such as that of former US President Donald Trump, unlocked again. Critics fear that under Musk’s leadership on Twitter, hate speech and misinformation could increase rapidly. He himself gave the reason for the purchase that he wanted to end alleged censorship on the platform.
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