SAN FRANCISCO – Twitter has suspended the accounts of several journalists who have been covering billionaire Elon Musk, who acquired the social network in October, and that of upstart rival service Mastodon.

The accounts suspended included Mr Ryan Mac of The New York Times; Mr Drew Harwell of The Washington Post; Mr Aaron Rupar, an independent journalist; Mr Donie O’Sullivan of CNN; Mr Matt Binder of Mashable; Mr Tony Webster, an independent journalist; Mr Micah Lee of The Intercept; and political journalist Keith Olbermann. 

Twitter also suspended the feed of social-media site Mastodon, which earlier posted a link on its Twitter page to an account on its own site that uses publicly available flight data to track Mr Musk’s private jet.

 It was unclear what the suspensions have in common. Each user’s Twitter page included a message that said it suspended accounts that “violate the Twitter rules”.

The moves came a day after Twitter suspended more than 25 accounts that tracked the planes of government agencies, billionaires and high-profile individuals, including that of Mr Musk.

Many of the accounts were operated by Mr Jack Sweeney, a 20-year-old college student and flight tracking enthusiast who used Twitter to post updates about the location of Mr Musk’s private plane using publicly available information. 

In November, Mr Musk said he would allow the account that tracked his private plane to remain on Twitter, although he said it amounted to a security threat.

“My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,” he said in a tweet at the time. 

But he changed his mind this week, after he claimed a car in which one of his sons was traveling was accosted by a “crazy stalker”.

On Wednesday, Mr Musk tweeted that any account that posted “real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info”.

Some of the journalists whose accounts were suspended have written about the accounts that tracked the private planes or tweeted about those accounts. Some have also written articles that have been critical of Mr Musk and his ownership of Twitter. Many of them had tens of thousands of followers on the platform.

In a tweet, Mr Musk said Twitter’s rules on “doxxing” – which refers to the sharing of someone’s personal documents, including information such as their address – “apply to ‘journalists’, as well as everyone else”. He did not elaborate. 

“Tonight’s suspension of the Twitter accounts of a number of prominent journalists, including The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, is questionable and unfortunate,” said Mr Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson for the Times. “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.”

In an appearance on CNN after his account was suspended, Mr O’Sullivan said Twitter’s actions could intimidate journalists who cover companies owned by Mr Musk. 

“I was disappointed to see that I was suspended from Twitter without explanation,” Mr Webster, whose account was suspended, said in an e-mailed comment. He added that he has tweeted about the Twitter account that tracked Mr Musk’s private plane before his suspension. 

Mr Binder, the Mashable journalist, said he has been critical of Mr Musk but has not broken any of Twitter’s listed policies.

After his suspension from Twitter, Mr Sweeney turned to Mastodon.

After Mastodon used Twitter to promote Mr Sweeney’s new account on Thursday, Twitter suspended Mastodon’s account. As some journalists shared the news of Mastodon’s suspension, their own accounts were suspended. 

Mr Musk, who purchased Twitter in October for US$44 billion (S$60 billion), has said his takeover would expand free speech on the platform and allow more people to participate in the public conversation.

In recent weeks, he allowed some banned users to return to the platform, including former president Donald Trump, who was barred from his account after the Jan 6, 2021, riot on Capitol Hill. 

Mr Musk said in October he would form a council to advise him on policy matters before making changes to the company’s content moderation policies. The council has not materialised.

This week, Mr Musk disbanded a trust and safety advisory group that had guided Twitter on thorny issues like harassment and child exploitation. 

“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means,” Mr Musk tweeted in April, shortly after announcing his intent to buy the company. NYTIMES, BLOOMBERG