Twitter CEO Elon Musk joined a Twitter Spaces chat Thursday night and told a group of journalists that they’re “not special” and won’t get preferential treatment from him.
Musk suspended the accounts of several prominent left-leaning journalists, including The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell and The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, for allegedly violating Twitter’s policy preventing users from sharing location information. The move came hours after Musk suspended an account he said was tracking the location of his private jet.
On Thursday night, Musk jumped in a Twitter space Buzzfeed’s Katie Notopoulos had created to discuss the suspensions. Musk explained that sharing the live location of his jet is “inappropriate” and would not be tolerated.
“There is not going to be any distinction between journalists — so-called journalists — and regular people. Everyone’s going to be treated the same. They’re not special because they’re journalists. You’re a citizen, so no special treatment. You dox, you get suspended, end of story,” Musk said.
Holy Shit. Elon Musk just popped into a Twitter Spaces chat with a bunch of journalists. He was called out by journalist Drew Harrell, who he banned, for lying about posting links to his private information, then leaves almost immediately after being pressed. Here is the exchange pic.twitter.com/wVA9Gb5MVJ
— Bradley Eversley (@ForeverEversley) December 16, 2022
Harwell said he never posted Musk’s address but admitted to posting a link to the ElonJet account, which was banned. Notopoulos then jumped in to ask why Musk wouldn’t give special treatment to journalists at certain media outlets, posing the question less than two minutes after Musk clearly said there would be no special treatment given. (RELATED: ‘Fox And Friends’ Hosts Stunned By Musk’s Suspension Of Several Accounts)
“Elon, I have to ask, I think what everyone’s wondering is, it’s highly unusual for journalists at The Washington Post and New York Times to be — have their Twitter account suspended, and it just so happens it’s the boss in charge. So, what’s the deal here?” she asked. Musk did not respond, and Notopoulos immediately followed up her question with the observation, “Oh, I think Elon has left.”
Musk has alleged that the suspended users “doxxed [his] exact location in real-time.”
The New York Times issued a statement calling Mac’s suspension “questionable and unfortunate,” while CNN issued a statement calling correspondent Donie O’Sullivan’s suspension “impulsive and unjustified.”