Twitter reinstates accounts of suspended media persons

With criticism and ridicule mounting, Twitter boss Elon Musk has decided to revoke the suspensions.

Elon Musk seems to be mellowing down a bit. The billionaire who took control of social media giant Twitter had suspended scores of accounts held by journalists the world over. With criticism and ridicule mounting, Musk has now decided to revoke the suspensions.

This means the journalists who had been forced to stay off the social media platform for their various tweets are soon to be back, and in full force, may be. The journalists who had been suspended from Twitter include prominent names from the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post, among others.

They were targeted by Musk who had accused that these journalists were sharing location data about him. Though the lockout came about, there wasn’t any respite in negative news on Musk and his doings.

Criticism grew post Twitter suspensions

As criticism rose from all quarters, Elon Musk had no option but to do a rethink. And in the process, he asked the Twitter users for suggestions on what he needs to do next. The result was encouraging as 59 percent of the 3.6 million Twitter users who participated in the vote urged Musk for an immediate lifting of the suspension.

It needs to be noted that the suspension of social media platform accounts had been condemned by the European Union and the United Nations earlier.  The UN’s under secretary general Melissa Fleming was quoted by the BBC as saying that media freedom is not a toy. “A free press is the cornerstone of democratic societies and a key tool in the fight against harmful disinformation,” she had said. Meanwhile the EU commissioner Vera Jourova even warned Twitter of possible sanctions under Europe’s new Digital Services Act. According to her, the Digital Services Act calls for respect of media freedom and fundament rights.

Sweeny account still down

With the Twitterati voting for lifting of the ban, Musk went public saying that the people have spoken, and accounts that shared his location will have their suspension lifted now. But Musk has declined to allow one account, @ElonJet, to get back on the social media platform. Jack Sweeney, a 20-year student is behind the Twitter handle and he had been making use of publicly available flight-tracking information to tweet every time the Twitter boss sets out on a plane. Musk believes he is a stalker, and is looking to initiate legal action.

In the meanwhile, the Twitter chief also update the social media platform’s privacy policy, which now states that users may not publish or post other people’s private information without their express authorization and permission.

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Sanjeev Ramachandran

A journalist with 23 years of experience, Sanjeev has worked with reputed media houses such as Business Standard, The Ne More »

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