Elon Musk's decision to ban at least five journalists drew global backlash on Friday, with organisations from the UN to the EU weighing in on the unprecedented action.
On Thursday, reporters from publications including The Washington Post, The New York Times, Mashable and CNN were listed as blocked and their tweets were no longer visible.
Mr Musk said the suspended profiles, which included well-known sports and political commentator Keith Olbermann, belonged to people who had posted his real-time location, describing the information as “basically assassination co-ordinates”.
The move comes after Mr Musk said a person had stalked his young son and after a disagreement over a Twitter account called ElonJet, which tracked Mr Musk's private plane using publicly available information.
But officials said Twitter's actions under Mr Musk, a self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist", risk press freedom in America, while critics saw the move as evidence he is policing points of view he dislikes.
In the US, freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment, but private companies such as Twitter are under no legal obligation to publish content.
At the US State Department, spokesman Vedant Patel said it was “difficult to square how these removals are consistent with promoting free exchange".
“Social media companies make their own independent decisions about content moderation and I’m not going to comment on their specific private actions,” Mr Patel said.
“But what I will say is this department’s support for free speech and freedom of the press is well documented.”
Meanwhile at the UN, Secretary General Antonio Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the move sets a "dangerous precedent". The EU also condemned the suspensions.
US journalism groups called on Mr Musk to reinstate the journalist accounts.
Clare Regan, president of the Society of Professional Journalists, said: “Twitter's action affects all journalists and goes against Musk's promise to uphold free speech on the platform.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists said Mr Musk should reinstate the accounts immediately.
“If Twitter owner Elon Musk truly wants to foster a platform that allows free speech for all, it makes no sense to remove journalists from the platform,” the organisation's president, Jodie Ginsberg, said in a statement.
“If confirmed as retaliation for their work, this would be a serious violation of journalists’ right to report the news without fear of reprisal.”
Mr Musk appeared to turn the fate of the suspended accounts over to Twitter users, asking in a poll when the suspensions should be lifted.
The standard ban period for doxxing — publishing personal information, including a person's location, online — on the service is seven days, he said.
A majority of respondents said the suspensions should be revoked immediately.
Ryan Mac, a reporter with The New York Times, tweeted from a new account that he had been given no warning before his suspension.
“I have no email or communication from the company about the reason for suspension,” he said.
“I report on Twitter, Elon Musk and his companies. And I will continue to do so.”
Mr Musk, who took over Twitter with the stated goal of eliminating censorship, tweeted that “doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’, as to everyone else”.
“This is management as dark performance art,” Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Centre for Business and Human Rights, told Bloomberg.
“The one thing for which we can all thank Mr Musk is that he is demonstrating, day by day, how dangerous it is for so much corporate power to be concentrated in the hands of a few Silicon Valley moguls.”
Mr Musk appears to be going through a difficult period since his takeover of Twitter in October.
His personal fortune has plunged as his erratic handling of the social media company and right-wing political musings have hurt the Tesla brand, which represents the bulk of his wealth.
The electric car company he cofounded was once a beloved status symbol for left-leaning progressives looking to burnish their environmental credentials, but many have been turned off by Mr Musk's actions this year.
Thanks to Tesla's stock collapse, Mr Musk has lost his crown as the world's richest man. Shares of the EV maker slumped another 4.72 per cent on Friday, capping an already brutal week.
Agencies contributed to this report
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
More coverage from the Future Forum
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
RESULT
Wolves 1 (Traore 67')
Tottenham 2 (Moura 8', Vertonghen 90 1')
Man of the Match: Adama Traore (Wolves)
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
HWJN
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Yasir%20Alyasiri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Baraa%20Alem%2C%20Nour%20Alkhadra%2C%20Alanoud%20Saud%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
RESULTS
Argentina 4 Haiti 0
Peru 2 Scotland 0
Panama 0 Northern Ireland 0
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The five pillars of Islam
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 258hp at 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.4L/100km
Price, base: from D215,000 (Dh230,000 as tested)
On sale: now
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Tickets
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
