Twitter accounts belonging to several prominent journalists covering the company's owner, Elon Musk, have been abruptly suspended.
Reporters for the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post are among those who found themselves locked out of their accounts on Thursday evening.
A Twitter spokeswoman told tech website The Verge that the ban was related to the live sharing of location data.
It comes after Mr Musk vowed to sue the owner of a profile that tracks his jet.
The list of banned journalists also includes The Intercept's Micha Lee, Mashable's Matt Binder, and independent reporters Aaron Rupar and Tony Webster.
A spokesman for the New York Times called the suspensions "questionable and unfortunate", and said neither the paper nor reporter Ryan Mac received any explanation for the action.
CNN said the "impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of reporters... is concerning but not surprising". It has asked Twitter for an explanation and will "re-evaluate our relationship based on that response".
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, whose account was among those suspended, said the move was significant for "the potential chilling impact" it could have for journalists, particularly those who cover Mr Musk's other companies.
When he completed his takeover of the social media site in October, Mr Musk addressed potential advertisers in a tweet in which he spoke of buying Twitter because he wanted to "try to help humanity", and said he wanted "civilisation to have a digital town square".
Mr Musk has not commented directly on the suspensions, but said in a tweet that "criticising me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not".
コメント