Elon Musk, the new owner
of the social media site
Twitter, posted on the
platform last month that
he was committed to free
speech. On Thursday, he
suspended the Twitter
accounts of several
journalists, including
the account of VOA’s
chief national
correspondent Steve
Herman.
Followers of Herman, who
is a former White House
bureau chief, were
greeted on his Twitter
account with a black
screen and the message
“Account Suspended.”
Accounts for journalists
from broadcaster CNN,
The New York Times and
The Washington Post, as
well as some independent
journalists, showed
similar messages.
It was not immediately
clear why the accounts
were suspended. VOA's
email requesting comment
from the media contact
listed on Twitter's
company website was
returned with a
"delivery failure"
message.
Many of the reporters
have written articles or
posted about changes
made to Twitter by Musk.
In replies to tweets
late Thursday, Musk said
on the platform:
"Criticizing me all day
long is totally fine,
but doxxing my real-time
location and endangering
my family is not."
Musk added: "Same
doxxing rules apply to
‘journalists’ as to
everyone else," a
reference to Twitter
rules banning sharing of
personal information,
called doxxing.
Musk had previously
suspended a Twitter
account, @elonjet, that
followed his personal
jet, using information
that is publicly
available. He said his
son had been followed by
a “crazy stalker,” using
information from the
account.
While some of those
banned had reported on
the incident, none had
shared location
information or content
that could be described
as doxxing, CNN’s
Reliable Sources said in
a newsletter.
Musk tweeted Thursday
that the doxxing
suspensions would last
for seven days.
Afterwards, a poll was
conducted on Twitter to
ask Twitter followers
when the suspended
accounts should be
reinstated. After 43%
voted for immediate
reinstatement, Musk said
he would conduct the
poll again because too
many options were
available on the poll.
Herman last reported for
VOA News about the
Twitter platform in
September. On Thursday
he was tweeting about
the @elonjet case.
“I had been tweeting
quite a bit on Thursday
evening about this
building drama, which
had started out with the
suspension of a
so-called bot account
that tweets the location
of Elon Musk’s private
jet,” Herman told VOA.
In his last tweet,
Herman posted a link to
a Washington Post
article and wrote, “More
reaction to the Thursday
night massacre of
journalists on Twitter.”
Shortly after, his
account was suspended.
Herman said he can no
longer send direct
messages or like other
users’ posts.
VOA in a statement late
Thursday confirmed
Herman’s account had
been suspended and
called on the social
media platform to
reinstate it.
“Mr. Herman is a
seasoned reporter who
upholds the highest
journalistic standards
and uses the social
media platform as a news
gathering and networking
tool. Mr. Herman has
received no information
from Twitter as to why
his account was
suspended,” VOA
spokesperson Nigel Gibbs
said in an email.
“As Chief National
Correspondent, Mr.
Herman covers
international and
national news stories
and this suspension
impedes his ability to
perform his duties as a
journalist.”
A spokesperson for The
New York Times said:
"Tonight's suspension of
the Twitter accounts of
a number of prominent
journalists, including
The New York Times' Ryan
Mac, is questionable and
unfortunate. Neither the
Times nor Ryan have
received any explanation
about why this occurred.
We hope that all of the
journalists' accounts
are reinstated and that
Twitter provides a
satisfying explanation
for this action."
CNN in a statement
described the
suspensions as
"impulsive and
unjustified" and said it
has asked Twitter for an
explanation. The
broadcaster said it
would reevaluate its
relationship with the
platform based on that
response.
David Kaye, a former
United Nations special
rapporteur on freedom of
opinion and expression,
posted on his account on
Mastodon that what is
happening at Twitter is
“simply intimidation.”
He said, “You cover
stuff Elon doesn’t like,
you're banned.”
Twitter
is more heavily using
automation to moderate
content, over manual
reviews, its new head of
trust and safety, Ella
Iwin, told Reuters this
month.
At the time of Herman’s
suspension, the veteran
broadcast journalist had
about 112,000 followers.
Herman told VOA late
Thursday that he
received a notice
informing him the
account was permanently
suspended. The notice
included a link for
users wanting to appeal
the decision. But when
he clicked it, a message
read: “No results.
Please try searching for
something else.”
The changes at Twitter
are of interest to
global audiences, Herman
said.
“It is obviously a
growing free press story
and people are
interested in that
because it’s involving
this huge social media
platform, a man who is,
I guess now, the
second-richest person in
the world. And this is
all happening in
America, with our
Constitution, First
Amendment and
democracy.”
