by By Abby Jones
Elon Musk’s social media platform X, previously twitter, has been under recent scrutiny after several journalistic accounts got “accidentally” suspended earlier this month. The eight accounts, according to NBC belong to journalists, podcastors and activists and all left leaning. Musk’s motives regarding the suspensions are being questioned partly due to the fact that recently he has been publicly conservative leaning. Musk claimed on an X post that the suspensions were accidental when sweeping for spam accounts. How just a hand-full of left-leaning journalists got swept up in this
This social media mix up has sparked an ongoing conversation of free speech. When figures like Musk have the power to purchase social media platforms and suspend any account, it makes us question if social media is really a free space. Of course there are user guidelines that restrict some inappropriate behaviors, but reporting on current events should not warrant a suspension. Eyebrows are raised when journalists’ voices are limited. Does this action qualify as violating freedom of speech? Were there any motives at play behind the suspensions?
In society’s current climate, freedom of information is more necessary than ever. Journalists seem to be getting silenced frequently by various powers. There is control over media narrative by the top percent of power all across the globe whether the audience is aware or not. Over the past months during the war in Gaza, 83 journalists and media workers have been killed. The voices from the inside have been taken away. Now more than ever we must value journalists and the truths they bring to light (link).
Social media, especially twitter, was once cherished due to its transparent nature. Its content is generated where anyone can have a voice. Journalists ran with this and turned twitter into a second home where they can report to a select audience. When people with power, like Elon Musk, try to take it away by suspending accounts it is silencing the public’s freedom to information. Many people gather the majority of their news from platforms like twitter where journalists are able to post free content.
Musk responded to the backlash with this tweet: Here saying “We do sweeps for spam/scam accounts and sometimes real accounts get caught up in them”. On the same day, he reposed this tweet: Here which is a post from Tulsi Gabbard who is a conservative US politician and former house member. She is advocating for the right to freedom of speech and states that now X is under leadership of Elon Musk, freedom of speech is protected and celebrated. There are no answers on what really happened, but the entire scenarios leaves room to ponder what is going on behind the scenes.
