Update, 12:35: X The banned account has been reinstated without explanation. Hamas-affiliated accounts remain suspended.
The platform The list includes popular accounts belonging to journalists, authors, and podcasters. These include accounts from the Intercept’s Ken Klippenstein, author and podcaster Rob Rousseau, Texas Observer reporter Steven Monacelli, left-wing politics and news podcast TrueAnon, and others some people. One thing these accounts have in common is recent criticism of the Israeli government.
Elon Musk has spent the past few months dealing with backlash over his comments. Support blatantly racist conspiracy theories Jews encourage “hatred of white people”. The executive then embarked on an image-reviving campaign, celebrating the Israeli military, denouncing anti-Semitism and traveling to Israel for an impromptu meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I have not received any communication from Twitter/X regarding the reason for my suspension. I can’t think of anything I have posted recently that warrants suspension. Although I have written multiple articles about Twitter/X and Elon in recent months Musk’s critical report,” Monacelli told Gizmodo. “Yes, I post critical of Israel’s targeting of civilians and journalists and share news about pro-Palestinian protests, but I have also recently posted and shared news debunking anti-Semitism disguised as criticism of Israel.”
Likewise, the TrueAnon podcast recently completed a two-part series that took a deep dive into Israel’s nuclear weapons program. “Why did Elon ban my podcast account?” says TrueAnon co-host Liz Franczak. wrote on her personal X account. “Why do the woke mob go after hard-working American small businesses?”
We’ve reached out to other affected users and will update this article if we hear back. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“As a journalist, I’ve been dodging layoffs my entire career, and Elon isn’t even in my top ten threats to survival,” Krippenstein said wrote “If the ban continues – which I think it will eventually – I will turn to my newsletter.”
Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has previously said that no one should be banned from using X unless they violate the law. “Given that Twitter is the de facto public town square, failure to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted before buying the platform in 2022.
In fact, Musk has a A long history of silencing critics and censors views he finds objectionable.The world’s richest man has yet to comment on most questions Account Suspensionbut he did reply to a tweet asking @qassam2024, an account associated with the Hamas military.
“This is a tough decision,” Musk said wrote “While many government leaders, including those in the United States, do call for killings, we have a ‘UN immunity rule’; if a government is recognized by the United Nations, we do not suspend their account. Hamas is not recognized by the United Nations as The government is therefore suspended.”
Unlike other accounts blocked on the same day, the Hamas account remains suspended.
However, the other banned accounts had no history of calling for killings, but they all criticized the Israeli government. For example, Klippenstein recently published an article in his Substack newsletter noting that Musk discussed artificial intelligence during a meeting with Netanyahu in November, when the Israeli government used artificial intelligence to bomb Gaza. Klippenstein also published on X his criticism of the Israeli government and military.
This isn’t the first time Musk has kicked reporters off the platform Welcoming them back after public criticism. In 2022, Musk rewrites Twitter’s rules to ban @ElonJet, an account that tracked his private jets, then suspended the accounts of a number of reporters who wrote about @ElonJet, including some who were never actually discussed on X. This sparked widespread condemnation, and the accounts were reinstated shortly thereafter, although Musk continues to claim they violated X’s rules.
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