AOC Blasts Musk for Suspending Some Journalists on Twitter

Twitter owner Elon Musk drew the ire of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for his decision to suspend the accounts of some journalists.

Multiple media outlets reported Thursday the accounts included those of Ryan Mac of The New York Times; Drew Harwell of The Washington Post; Donie O’Sullivan from CNN; Micah Lee from The Intercept; Matt Binder from Mashable; Steve Herman from Voice of America; unaffiliated journalists Aaron Rupar and Tony Webster; and political commentator and former MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann.

Axios reported that Musk indicated that the accounts violated Twitter’s doxxing policy. He revealed the policy on Wednesday after suspending an account that tracked his private jet.

“Accounts engaged in doxxing receive a temporary seven-day suspension,” he said.

In a tweet, Musk wrote: “They posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service.”

Ocasio-Cortez shot back: “You’re a public figure. An extremely controversial and powerful one. I get feeling unsafe, but descending into abuse of power + erratically banning journalists only increases the intensity around you. Take a beat and lay off the proto-fascism. Maybe try putting down your phone.”

Earlier, Ocasio-Cortez had tweeted: “As someone who has been subject to real + dangerous plots, I do get it. I didn’t have security and have experienced many scary incidents. In fact, many of the right-wing outlets you now elevate published photos of my home, car, etc. At a certain point you gotta disconnect.”