The Twitter account of Washington Post technology reporter Taylor Lorenz was suspended Saturday, after Lorenz asked Twitter CEO Elon Musk to comment on a story he was working on.
“Elon Musk suspended my Twitter account tonight,” he wrote on Substack on Saturday night. “I have not received any communication from the company as to why I was suspended or what conditions I violated.”
Lorenz said she and colleague Drew Harwell reached out to Musk several times via email about their story. When he didn’t respond, Lorenz said they sent the following tweet:
Screenshots/Substitutes/Taylor Lorenz
Lorenz did not reveal what it was about. But his tweet seemed to be there response to a complaint from Musk who was “doxxed” – his location revealed – by a flight tracking website.
Lorenz called Musk’s action “super crazy. Elon seems to ban anyone who disagrees with him,” Lorenz said in a video he shared on TikTok on Saturday.
There was no comment from Musk or Twitter about the action against Lorenz.
Screenshots/Twitter/ Taylor Lorenze
The suspension of Lorenz’s account follows massive controversy after Musk abruptly suspended several top tech journalists from major media outlets, including CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
He said he was disturbed when some of them posted links to his flight tracking website. It allowed several reporters to return to Twitter on Friday.
After those few suspensions, a United Nations spokesman on Friday called Musk’s “arbitrary” silencing of journalists “deeply troubling,” which set a “dangerous precedent” for free speech. European leaders have warned that Musk’s actions breach EU protections for freedom of expression.
Musk has insisted until recently that he is a “free speech absolutist.”
Journalists and others were outraged by Musk’s crackdown on Lorenz.
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