Elon Musk's Twitter abruptly suspends several journalists who cover Elon Musk and Twitter

Twitter suspended the accounts of reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and several other news organizations Thursday evening, without explanation. Most of the suspended journalists cover Twitter and its new owner, Elon Musk, and Musk suggested on Twitter that the suspensions were tied to his new policy of not posting the real-time location of his private jet, or any user's "live location information."
Twitter on Wednesday banned the automated flight-tracking account @elonjet and its creator, 20-year-old Jack Sweeney. Musk blamed that account for a "crazy stalker" purportedly harassing a car carrying his young son through Los Angeles, though he didn't explain the connection.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan said he was banned from Twitter after posting a screenshot of a Los Angeles Police Department statement that no such crime had been reported. Mashable tech reporter Matt Binder said his account was suspended after he posted a screenshot of O'Sullivan's tweet. "I did not share any location data, as per Twitter's new terms," Binder told The Associated Press. "Nor did I share any links to ElonJet or other location tracking accounts."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Musk seems to be just stamping out accounts that he doesn't like," O'Sullivan said on CNN.
Twitter informed several of the reporters that their accounts are "permanently" suspended, but hasn't explained why. Musk tweeted that criticizing him is fine but "doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not"; that the "same doxxing rules apply to 'journalists' as to everyone else"; and that the suspended journalists "posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service." He also suggested the accounts would be suspended for seven days.
"None of the tweets from suspended reporters that the Post has reviewed revealed the location of Musk or his family," The Washington Post reports.
The Post, the Times, CNN, and the nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists all criticized Twitter's opaque and seemingly arbitrary suspension of journalists, especially given Musk's avowed commitment to "free speech."
"It's impossible to square Twitter's free speech aspirations with the purging of critical journalists' accounts," ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said in a statement. "The First Amendment protects Musk's right to do this, but it's a terrible decision." Paul Barrett, at the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, called the suspensions "surely the dumbest and most hypocritical move Elon Musk has made as owner and 'Chief Twit.'"
The journalists suspended Thursday included Ryan Mac at the Times, Drew Harwell at the Post, Voice of America's Steve Herman, Micah Lee of The Intercept, and independent journalists Aaron Rupar, Keith Olberman, and Tony Webster.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Ponant Le Champlain: an immersive Caribbean voyage
The Week Recommends On board the luxury French operator's eight-night cruise from St Lucia to the West Indies
By Rachel Roberts
-
Cultural copying: Western fast fashion is co-opting South Asian culture
Under the radar Reformation's new collection resembles traditional South Asian garments
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Codeword: April 28, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodes
Speed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Musk vs. Altman: The fight over OpenAI
Feature Elon Musk has launched a $97.4 billion takeover bid for OpenAI
By The Week US
-
Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 years
Speed Read This is a win for Trump, who has pushed to move manufacturing back to the US
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Microsoft unveils quantum computing breakthrough
Speed Read Researchers say this advance could lead to faster and more powerful computers
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Elon Musk's DOGE website has gotten off to a bad start
In the Spotlight The site was reportedly able to be edited by anyone when it first came online
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
What Trump's 'tech bros' want
The Explainer Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos had 'prime seats' at the president's inauguration. What are they looking to gain from Trump 2.0?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
TikTok's fate uncertain as weekend deadline looms
Speed Read The popular app is set to be banned in the U.S. starting Sunday
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the billionaire space race
The Explainer Tesla CEO and Amazon founder vie for dominance of satellite launch market and could influence Nasa plans to return to Moon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK