Journalists locked out of Twitter accounts after refusing to delete Musk tweets

Several journalists remain locked out of their Twitter accounts after refusing to delete tweets about an account that tracked CEO Elon Musk’s private jet, according to The Washington Post.

The journalists — including Voice of America’s Steve Herman, the Post’s Drew Harwell, The New York Times’s Ryan Mac, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, Fox Business’s Susan Li and The Intercept’s Micah Lee — were suspended for reporting on Musk’s dispute with the creator of the @ElonJet account.

Musk claimed that the journalists violated the social media platform’s policies on doxxing by linking back to the account, which used publicly available data to track the movements of Musk’s private jet.

The billionaire ultimately said he would reinstate the accounts after Twitter users voted in favor of restoring them in a poll. The journalists’ accounts reappeared on the social media platform, suggesting that they were no longer suspended.

However, the Post reported on Friday that the journalists were required to delete the tweets at issue in order to regain access to their accounts — a precondition that was not noted in Musk’s public poll. 

The journalists who have refused to delete the tweets — maintaining that they represent legitimate reporting — remain locked out of their accounts.

Independent journalist Aaron Rupar, who was initially suspended, made the choice to comply with Twitter’s requests and regained access to his account. 

“I was grateful that my account was restored but, going forward, I’m certainly going to be mindful of the fact that we can’t really depend on Twitter like we have over the last decade,” he said in an interview with LiveNow from Fox.

“By suspending me and other people who have been critical of him, Elon is kind of implementing a chilling effect upon criticism of him,” Rupar added.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.