It is safe to argue that things haven’t panned out exactly as tech-billionaire Elon Musk would have expected to after acquiring Twitter for $44B. Now, Musk’s family is paying the consequences too and face real physical threats
What Went Down?
On Wednesday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted that a car with his 2-year-old son Lil X encountered a crazy stalker in Los Angeles. The stalker then further escalated matters. The unidentified individual proceeded to stop the car and climb on to the hood of the car.
The Los Angeles Police Department has taken cognizance of the matter and is cooperating with Elon Musk and his team. Musk posted a clip featuring the stalker and their license plate asking his followers if anyone recognized the individual or the car.
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Twitter Went Through Changes As A Consequence
Musk has now made changes to Twitter policy. He tweeted saying, “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.”
ElonJet Suspended
Musk drew parallels of the aforementioned safety risk to Twitter accounts that post real-time location. Twitter user ‘ElonJet’ used to tweet the real-time location of Musk’s flights and private jet. The account has now been suspended. Musk had previously offered $5000 to the individual behind the account to take down the account. After the Lil X incident, legal action is being undertaken by Musk against the man behind the account – Jack Sweeney. Sweeney’s account has also been taken down from Twitter.
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Journalists Face The Brunt
Additionally, the accounts of many journalists who cover Musk have since been suspended. This includes reputed journalists from CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times. The United Nations and European Union condemned Musk’s actions and even threatened Twitter with sanctions. The UN stated, “media freedom is not a toy.” Musk later participated in a Twitter Spaces session mainly featuring journalists. These journalists asked the Tesla CEO uncomfortable questions and pressed Musk’s true motive to ban their fellow ‘innocent’ journalists. This would lead to Musk leaving the Twitter Space. Furthermore, Twitter Space as a feature became unavailable for a few hours since the incident.
Netizens Brand Elon Musk A ‘Hypocrite’
After Musk bought Twitter, he amplified the message of Twitter being a free speech platform. He went to the extent of re-instating accounts of Kanye West and former U.S. President Donald Trump after conducting Twitter polls. But when his Twitter polls depicted a majority favouring re-instating of suspended journalists’ accounts, he decided to re-do the polls. Additionally, many have accused the billionaire of favouring free speech only when convenient to him. But when he faces the brunt of this freedom of speech, he bans accounts.
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