Elon Musk reinstates journalists' suspended Twitter accounts
- Tech
- DPA
- Published Date: 12:21 | 18 December 2022
- Modified Date: 12:21 | 18 December 2022
"The people have spoken," the controversial new owner of the social media platform morning. The seven temporarily blocked accounts "will have their suspension lifted now," Musk added.
The announcement came after respondents overwhelmingly voted for the accounts to be reinstated immediately.
On Thursday, several high-profile journalists were from the platform, including Drew Harwell of The Washington Post, Donie O'Sullivan of CNN, Matt Binder of Mashable, and the independent journalists Aaron Rupar and Keith Olbermann.
Later that day, the billionaire accused the journalists of sharing private information about his location, which would violate .
The suspended journalists vehemently disputed the accusation.
"You're suggesting that we're sharing your address, " Harwell told the self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist" during a on Thursday.
In his Twitter poll, Musk asked users whether he should "unsuspend" the accounts "now" or "in 7 days."
Of the nearly 3.7 million Twitter users who responded to the poll, 58.7% said the accounts should be reinstated immediately.
The suspensions sparked immediate backlash across social media channels, as well as sharp criticism from news organizations, government officials and media advocacy groups.
Journalists on the microblogging platform expressed appreciation for the reinstatement of the accounts, though they continue to dispute Musk's claims.
"No matter how many times @elonmusk repeats this lie,," wrote Judd Legum, an independent journalist who runs Popular Information, a newsletter dedicated to accountability journalism.
"None of these journalists doxxed Musk," he added. "Glad their accounts have been restored though."
As of Saturday morning, nearly all of the accounts appeared to have been reinstated.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily News.