Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Twitter CEO Elon Musk sparred Thursday night after Musk banned the accounts of a handful of left-leaning journalists.
Musk nuked the Twitter accounts of CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac and independent journalist Aaron Rupar. He justified the accounts’ suspension, accusing them of violating Twitter’s rules against doxxing. “Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” he tweeted.
Musk continued saying, “[the] same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else.”
“They posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service,” Musk tweeted.
Ocasio-Cortez then jumped in, accusing Musk of embracing fascism .
“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.” (RELATED: Elon Musk Dissolves Twitter’s ‘Trust And Safety Council’ Following Child Exploitation Concerns)
You’re a public figure. An extremely controversial and powerful one.
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://t.co/BniyYUqWMY
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 16, 2022
“Take a beat and lay off the proto-fascism. Maybe try putting down your phone.”
Musk didn’t hold back, responding, “you first lol.”
You first lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022
The move comes hours after Twitter suspended more than two dozen accounts that live-track high-profile individuals’ planes, including one user who tracked Musk’s moves.
Drew Harwell admitted to posting links to the ElonJet account, but denied doxxing the Twitter CEO.
CNN issued a statement calling Donie O’Sullivan’s suspension “impulsive and unjustified.”
The New York Times issued a statement calling Ryan Mac’s suspension “questionable and unfortunate.”
Rupar issued a statement on Substack acknowledging the suspension, but said he did not have any other information.