Musk changed his tune this week after he alleges “crazy stalker‘ ran after the car carrying his little son. Questions about the incident remain and it is unclear how an account tweeting aircraft location data publicly available through multiple sources could be linked to an automobile incident. But it was enough to get Musk to take a tough stance against sharing someone else’s real-time or recent location status.
by Twitter update policy now includes posts containing what the site calls “personal information”. It says people can still share their own data, but cannot share someone else’s “real-time” or “same-day” location information without their consent. Twitter also blocks people from sharing photos and videos of individuals. It provides exemptions for notable events and “issues or events of public interest”. Questions sent to Twitter about how to enforce this policy went unanswered.
The events leading up to that new policy suggest that those wanting to know what’s allowed on the platform should study Elon Musk’s tweets, not the company’s rule book. However, his claims may be misleading. “Everyone will be treated the same,” Musk speak in an audio chat on Twitter Spaces with journalists yesterday in which he combined posting public flight information with doxing, the practice of posting contact information or home addresses online . “They’re not special just because you’re a journalist.”
However, it is clear that Musk is giving journalists special treatment by suspending them for reporting information that he does not want a large audience to see. CNN called the journalists’ suspension “concerning but not surprising” in a statement. statementand said it would reevaluate its relationship with Twitter based on responses to their questions about the suspension. The American Civil Liberties Union notes that Musk has the right to ban journalists and others from the platform, but Is called suspend “an attack on free speech.”
Trevor Timm, chief executive officer of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said Musk’s self-serving actions showed how much censorship on the platform can be manipulated further. If people close to Musk or people who align with his business interests want the account to be banned, he can create a new rule to do so.
“He’s basically encouraging people to come up to him and say, block this account, block that account, because they know he’s going to act in his own interest,” Timm said.
Across the Atlantic, Musk could face harsher consequences than public outcry. Members of the European Parliament sent a letter to Musk today, urging him to reverse the suspension of journalists (“We are extremely concerned that journalists’ accounts have been blocked,” it reads). . The letter makes recommendations on how he can modify Twitter’s policies to better comply with the new European Union regulations. Digital Services Act, making online platforms more accountable for harmful content posted by users. Major online platforms must comply with it by 2024.
It is unclear if Musk will decide to reverse his position and give up his self-appointed moderator role. But if renewed pressure on journalists continues, it could prompt reporters to cover their scoop elsewhere and their audiences will follow. His actions, says EPIC’s Davisson, “can certainly help hasten the demise of a company like Twitter. Bad sign.”
Additional reporting by Morgan Meaker
