No explanation was given.
The Purge
So much for free speech.
Elon Musk’s X-formerly-Twitter has suspended the accounts of several journalists and leftist pundits without giving any explanation whatsoever. As Motherboard reports, The Intercept‘s Ken Klippenstein, Alan MacLeod of MintPress News, Texas Observer journalist Steven Monacelli, podcaster Rob Rousseau, and the account for the left-leaning podcast TrueAnon were affected, among others.
The common thread? It seems that most or all of the affected journalists had been critical of Musk and his ventures.
“I haven’t received any communications from Twitter/X about why I have been suspended,” Monacelli told Motherboard in an email. “I can’t think of anything I’ve posted lately that would be worthy of suspensions. Although I have written multiple critical reports about Twitter/X and Elon Musk.”
In a post to Instagram, MacLeod wrote that “I assume the real reason is political” as he had never “even remotely been involved in any controversy/ been reported/ been stuck in Twitter jail before.”
Rob Israel, who recently painted an unflattering cartoon of Musk, was also suspended.
Needless to say, the action highlights Musk’s hypocritical stance on what he likes to refer to as “free speech.” Especially following his acquisition of the website, he has cracked down hard on his critics.
Ban Hammer
Of course, this isn’t the first time Musk has purged accounts of people who he had a personal bone to pick with. In late 2022, shortly after his chaotic takeover of the social media platform, the company suspended a significant number of journalists who’d written critically about the acquisition, including New York Times reporter Ryan Mac, Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell, and Substack writer Aaron Rupar.
Then in April, X suspended Wired reporter Dell Cameron, who had previously interviewed an individual who had hacked the emails of conservative commentator Matt Walsh.
As to be expected at this point, neither X nor Musk have given any official statement regarding the latest suspensions.
But whether their departures will even matter is another question. The platform has lost much of its relevancy ever since Musk has taken over, making way for a flood of misinformation and hate speech. Musk himself has championed notorious disinformation accounts and spread racist conspiracy theories himself.
In short, perhaps it’s best to finally say goodbye to the “flaming dumpster” — in Musk’s own words — once and for all, a slow and excruciating demise that arguably can’t happen fast enough.
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