Taylor Lorenz

2022 - 12 - 18

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Image courtesy of "Forbes"

Musk Bans Washington Post Journalist Taylor Lorenz From Twitter ... (Forbes)

The Washington Post's Taylor Lorenz was banned from Twitter hours after she tweeted as Musk seeking his comment on a story about him.

Musk has also used his Twitter account to [target people](https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/12/12/white-house-calls-musks-tweets-about-fauci-incredibly-dangerous-and-disgusting/?sh=5c652951ac2c) who he dislikes while fanning [conspiracy theories](https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3pjkw/elon-musk-is-now-promoting-qanon). Earlier in the day the platform had [shut down](https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/12/15/twitter-suspends-multiple-accounts-tracking-billionaires-private-jets-bans-sharing-of-publicly-available-flight-data/?sh=4cd57f9c1746) rival social media platform Mastodon’s account along with several accounts tracking the locations of private jets belonging to several billionaires including Musk himself. [independent council](https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/10/28/no-trump-tweets-yet-musk-says-diverse-council-will-consider-reversing-bans/?sh=13fccf3467a2) with “widely diverse viewpoints.” The billionaire, however, has also appeared to act as the arbiter of what kind of content Twitter should or should not allow. The suspension of the journalists’ accounts led to a widespread backlash against Musk, with European Union officials [warning](https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/12/16/european-union-official-warns-elon-musk-of-sanctions-over-twitter-banning-journalists/) that Twitter could face sanctions. Among the suspended accounts was @ElonJet—whose continued existence on Twitter had previously been [singled out](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1589414958508691456) by Musk as a symbol of his commitment to allowing “free speech.” After handing out the bans, Musk accused the @ElonJet account, its owner 20-year-old Jack Sweeney, and other journalists of endangering his and his family’s life by sharing publicly available flight tracking data. [suspended](https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/12/15/twitter-suspends-accounts-for-rival-mastodon-and-several-high-profile-journalists/?sh=5c5f0aba52ba) the accounts of several high-profile journalists from the Washington Post, VOA News, the New York Times, MSNBC and CNN after Musk deemed they were violating Twitter’s new rules on sharing people’s real-time location.

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Image courtesy of "Daily Beast"

Elon Musk Suspends Washington Post's Taylor Lorenz From Twitter (Daily Beast)

I received zero communication from the company on why I was suspended or what terms I violated,” Taylor Lorenz wrote on Substack.

“Again, the suspension occurred with no warning, process or explanation -- this time as our reporter merely sought comment from Musk for a story. In Lorenz’s story, she linked to a public Zillow listing of an influencer collaboration home. Post journalists should be reinstated immediately, without arbitrary conditions.” “When I went to log in and see if he had responded to our query, I was suspended. It also followed a recent complaint to Musk by influencer manager Ariadna Jacob, who was the subject of a critical article by Lorenz and who subsequently sued the reporter for defamation. Musk said on Sunday morning that Lorenz was suspended for “prior doxxing action by this account” and that it would be lifted “shortly.”

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Image courtesy of "Boing Boing"

Free speech foe Elon Musk suspends Washington Post's Taylor ... (Boing Boing)

When Twitter suspended Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz last night, she had 340000 followers and three live tweets. Two of the tweets were links to ...

When I went to log in and see if he had responded to our query, I was suspended. At 8:30pm EST I tried reaching out for comment on Twitter by posting this: My colleague Drew Harwell, who has also been suspended, and I have been working on a story involving Musk and were hoping to get comment from him.

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