Twitter bans accounts on dodgy “doxxing” accusations, and the State Department creates a “China House” to better coordinate and concentrate anti-Beijing efforts.
Managing Editor of CovertAction Magazine Jeremy Kuzmarov joins Misfits hosts Michelle Witte and John Kiriakou to discuss the current military buildup in East Asia, the role the Phillipines plays in Washington’s encirclement of China, the State Department's establishment of a new Office of China Coordination, the release of further documents relating to the JFK assassination, and the projected length of the Ukrainian crisis.
Executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center Paul Wright discusses the arrest of five Louisiana troopers over the death of Ronald Greene, a San Antonio police officer that fed multiple homeless men sandwiches made of human feces, the conclusion of the Atatiana Jefferson case, a school principal charged with prison time for investigating a sexting incident, and an ongoing legal battle between the Human Rights Defense Center and Centurion Health over medical malpractice in prisons.
Republican strategist, grassroots activist Eugene Craig discusses Jill Biden greenlighting a 2024 campaign for Joe Bide, Donald Trump loyalists jumping ship after the former president released digital trading cards, tension between Ron DeSantis and Trump ahead of the GOP primaries, as well as Kevin McCarthy’s lack of support for House Speaker and who else could be speaking in the new congress.
Host of the podcast District 34 and reporter for Status Coup Tina Desiree Berg discusses the inauguration of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and her plans to reduce homelessness, the failure of privatize efforts to permanently house people in LA, and the ongoing Twitter drama.
The Misfits also discuss News of the Weird this week, including New York installing “Urine Detectors” in subway stations, the establishment of a rent-a-chicken business, and a Georgia criminal feeling left out of a local fugitive list.
Twitter suspends journalists from NYT, CNN, more; Musk claims his location data was shared
Twitter on Thursday suspended the accounts of journalists who cover the social media platform and its new owner Elon Musk, among them reporters working for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and other publications.
The company hasn’t explained to the journalists why it took down the accounts and made their profiles and past tweets disappear. But Musk took to Twitter on Thursday night to accuse journalists of sharing private information about his whereabouts that he described as “basically assassination coordinates.” He provided no evidence for that claim.
The sudden suspension of news reporters followed Musk’s decision Wednesday to permanently ban an account that automatically tracked the flights of his private jet using publicly available data. That also led Twitter to change its rules for all users to prohibit the sharing of another person’s current location without their consent.
Several of the reporters suspended Thursday night had been writing about the new policy and Musk's rationale for imposing it, which involved his allegations about a stalking incident he said affected his family on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
The official account for Mastodon, a decentralized social network billed as an alternative to Twitter, was also banned. The reason was unclear, though it had tweeted about the jet tracking account.
“Same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else," Musk tweeted Thursday. He later added: “Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not.”
“Doxxing” refers to disclosing online someone’s identity, address, or other personal details.
The Washington Post’s executive editor, Sally Buzbee, called for technology reporter Drew Harwell’s Twitter account to be reinstated immediately. The suspension “directly undermines Elon Musk’s claim that he intends to run Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech,” Buzbee wrote. “Harwell was banished without warning, process or explanation, following the publication of his accurate reporting about Musk.”
CNN said in a statement that “the impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of reporters, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising.”
“Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses Twitter,” CNN's statement added. “We have asked Twitter for an explanation, and we will reevaluate our relationship based on that response.”
Another suspended journalist, Matt Binder of the technology news outlet Mashable, said he was banned Thursday night immediately after sharing a screenshot that O’Sullivan had posted before his own suspension.
The screenshot showed a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department sent earlier Thursday to multiple media outlets, including The Associated Press, about how it was in touch with Musk's representatives about the alleged stalking incident, but that no crime report had yet been filed.
“I did not share any location data, as per Twitter’s new terms. Nor did I share any links to ElonJet or other location tracking accounts,” Binder said in an email. “I have been highly critical of Musk but never broke any of Twitter’s listed policies.”
Binder said a message he received while trying to access his Twitter account showed that his suspension was permanent. But Musk later suggested the penalty would last a week in response to a question about his suspension of former ESPN and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann.
Late Thursday, Musk briefly joined a Twitter Spaces conference chat hosted by journalist Kate Notopoulos of Buzzfeed. He reiterated his claims that the journalists Twitter banned were “doxxing" him when they were reporting on the jet tracking accounts being banned.
“There is not special treatment for journalists,” Musk said, after being asked by the Post’s Drew Harwell if he had a connection between the stalking incident and posting of real-time information.
“You dox, you get suspended, end of story,” he added, before abruptly signing out. The Spaces ended abruptly shortly after 9 p.m. Pacific time.
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