Right-wingers gloat over Twitter suspensions of journalists

Twitter suspended some journalists. You may have heard. On the off chance you haven’t already read one of the dozens of pieces on the subject, let me fill in a few of the main components of the whole sordid story before moving on to the right-wingers and their collective orgasm over the media bans.

• Last night, Chief Twit Elon Musk permabanned a number of mainstream journalists who cover him, including the New York Times’s Ryan Mac, the Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, and independent journalists Aaron Rupar and Keith Olbermann. Musk claimed the journalists had linked to “real-time” information on his location, basically providing potential miscreants with “assassination coordinates.” Most seem to have only linked to a now-banned Twitter account that used public data to track what airport Elon Musk’s private jet is at.
• To justify the bans, Musk pointed to what he said had been a scary incident involving a car carrying his 2-yead-old son “Lil X,” which had allegedly been followed by a “crazy stalker” who ultimately climbed on the car’s hood. Journalists quickly discovered that there had been no police report filed on the alleged incident, which many took to mean that it had been imaginary or exaggerated. At least two journalists, including Mashable’s Matt Binder, seem to have been banned just for posting this information.
• A number of the banned journalists and others gathered in a Twitter Spaces chatroom–somehow, they weren’t banned from this–to discuss the suspensions. Musk crashed the party to explain himself but quickly left after journalists started asking him questions. He then shut down not just this chatroom but all Twitter Space chats, temporarily removing this functionality from the site.
• Musk, who has apparently changed his mind on the permanent nature of the suspensions, is now running a Twitter poll that will evidently decide when the suspended journalists will be suspended. So far, most of those voting say he should reinstate them “now.”

Now you’re up to speed on the basics. If you need more details, you can easily find them.

While most in the media are deploring the suspensions, and the European Union is even mulling sanctions over them, right-wingers couldn’t be more pleased by Elon’s impulsive acts. On Twitter, far-right media figures and Twitter pundits are gloating over the bans and mocking the banned.

Many right-wing publications were no less thrilled by Elon’s ban spree. “The Musk bans MELTDOWN is so schadenfreudelicious I’m going into sugar coma,” wrote a giddy Fred T at The Right Scoop. “Now you’re crying? GOOD. CRY!!!” “The Left-Wing Journalists Elon Musk Suspended From Twitter Got What They Deserved,” opined Conservative Review. “Cry us a river, journos,” wrote Sarah D on Twitchy.

On Louder With Crowder, “Brodigan” tried to have it both ways. “Do I think Musk should be suspending journalists? No,” he wrote. “Do I feel bad that these assclowns and others like them are suspended? Meh.”

These are all the same people who’ve been screeching for years about (pre-Musk) Twitter “censorship” of right-wingers over hate speech and the active spreading of disinformation. Now that Musk is banning those they don’t like, regardless of the bullshit pretext, they’re all for it. So keep all this in mind the next time Musk or any of his right-wing fanboys (or girls, but mostly boys) tries to claim the mantle of “free speech absolutist.”

NOTE: Another of the accounts banned last night was the official Mastodon account on Twitter; the site also blocked all outgoing links to Mastodon. I figured this was as appropriate time as any to change the “follow me on Twitter” link I append to every post to a “follow me on Mastodon” link. Hope to see you there!

Follow me on Mastodon.

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