Elon Musk has tweeted that the Twitter accounts of journalists that were recently suspended will be reinstated, following polls calling for the accounts to be reactivated.
The account for VOA’s Chief National Correspondent Steve Herman was back up around 1:30 a.m. EST. Herman was among several journalists suspended from Twitter late Thursday.
Followers of the former White House bureau chief’s Twitter account were greeted with a blank screen and message saying “Account Suspended.”
Accounts for several major journalists — from broadcaster CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as some independent journalists — showed similar messages.
It was not immediately clear why the accounts were suspended. VOA's email requesting comment from the media contact listed on Twitter's company website was returned with a "delivery failure" message.
Many of the reporters have written articles or posted about changes made to Twitter by its new owner, Musk.
In replies to tweets late Thursday, Musk said on the platform: "Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not."
Musk added: "Same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else," a reference to Twitter rules banning sharing of personal information, called doxxing.
Reuters reported that Twitter earlier suspended @elonjet, an account tracking Musk's private jet in real time, a month after he said his commitment to free speech extended to not banning the account.
While some of those banned had reported on the incident, none had shared location information or content that could be described as doxxing, CNN’s Reliable Sources said in a newsletter.
Herman last reported for VOA News about the Twitter platform in September. On Thursday he was tweeting about the @elonjet case.
“I had been tweeting quite a bit on Thursday evening about this building drama, which had started out with the suspension of a so-called bot account that tweets the location of Elon Musk’s private jet,” Herman told VOA.
In his last tweet, Herman posted a link to a Washington Post article and wrote, “More reaction to the Thursday night massacre of journalists on Twitter.”
Shortly after, his account was suspended. Herman said he could no longer send direct messages or like other users’ posts.
VOA in a statement late Thursday confirmed Herman’s account had been suspended and called on the social media platform to reinstate it.
“Mr. Herman is a seasoned reporter who upholds the highest journalistic standards and uses the social media platform as a news gathering and networking tool. Mr. Herman has received no information from Twitter as to why his account was suspended,” VOA spokesperson Nigel Gibbs said in an email. “As Chief National Correspondent, Mr. Herman covers international and national news stories, and this suspension impedes his ability to perform his duties as a journalist.”
A representative for The New York Times said "Tonight's suspension of the Twitter accounts of a number of prominent journalists, including The New York Times' Ryan Mac, is questionable and unfortunate. Neither the Times nor Ryan have received any explanation about why this occurred. We hope that all of the journalists' accounts are reinstated, and that Twitter provides a satisfying explanation for this action."
From her official Twitter account, Society of Professional Journalists National President Claire Regan expressed concern about the suspensions, saying they go “against Musk's promise to uphold free speech on the platform. We will continue to monitor the situation and advocate for journalism and free speech on all platforms.”
The American Foreign Service Association — of which Herman is a career-long member with a seat on the governing board — also issued a statement, calling for Herman to be reinstated.
The Committee to Protect Journalists also expressed its concern, saying if Herman and the other journalists were suspended as retaliation for their work, “this would be a serious violation of journalists' right to report the news without fear or reprisal.”
At the United Nations, the secretary-general's spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, weighed in at his daily briefing Friday, saying they were “very disturbed at the news,” and that “media voices should not be silenced on a platform that professes to be a space for free speech.” Dujarric said it sets a dangerous precedent.
The European Union, too, was concerned about the suspensions. From her own Twitter account, EU Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova wrote the suspensions were worrying and noted: the “EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced under our Media Freedom Act.”
She said Musk should be aware of that. “There are red lines,” she said, “and sanctions too.”
CNN in a statement described the suspensions as "impulsive and unjustified" and said it has asked Twitter for an explanation. The broadcaster said it would reevaluate its relationship with the platform based on that response.
Twitter is more heavily using automation to moderate content, over manual reviews, its new head of trust and safety, Ella Iwin, told Reuters this month.
At the time of Herman’s suspension, the veteran broadcast journalist had about 112,000 followers.
Herman told VOA late Thursday that he received a notice informing him the account was permanently suspended. The notice included a link for users wanting to appeal the decision. But when he clicked it, a message read: “No results. Please try searching for something else.”
The changes at Twitter are of interest to global audiences, Herman said.
“It is obviously a growing free press story and people are interested in that because it’s involving this huge social media platform, a man who is, I guess now, the second-richest person in the world. And this is all happening in America, with our Constitution, First Amendment and democracy.”
Some information for this article came from Reuters.
