The Twitter account of Washington Post tech journalist Taylor Lorenz was temporarily suspended Saturday after the reporter asked Twitter CEO Elon Musk for comment for a story she was working on.
“Earlier tonight, Elon Musk suspended my Twitter account,” she wrote on her Substack late Saturday. “I received zero communication from the company on why I was suspended or what terms I violated.”
Lorenz said she and colleague Drew Harwell had reached out to Musk via email several times about their story. When he did not respond, Lorenz said they sent the following tweet, in which they tagged Musk:
Lorenz didn’t reveal what the story was about. But her tweet appeared to be in response to a complaint by Musk that he was being “doxxed” — his location revealed — via a flight tracking site.
Lorenz called Musk’s action “super crazy” in a video she shared on TikTok Saturday.
“Elon seems to banning anyone who disagrees with him,” Lorenz continued.
In response to a tweet about Lorenz’s suspension, Musk claimed without evidence that she had engaged in “prior doxxing” but that the suspension was temporary and would be “lifted shortly.” Journalist Judd Legum reported shortly after that Lorenz “received an email saying she is permanently banned and the decision is not appealable.”
However, Lorenz was back on her Twitter account Sunday afternoon.
The temporary suspension of Lorenz’s account follows a massive controversy after Musk on Thursday suddenly suspended several prominent tech journalists from major media outlets including CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Musk claimed he was being doxxed when some of the journalists posted links to a site that tracks his flights. He allowed several of the journalists back on Twitter Friday.
After those suspensions, a spokesperson for the United Nations on Friday said the organization is “very disturbed” by Musk’s “arbitrary” silencing of journalists, which he said sets a “dangerous precedent” for free speech. European leaders warned that Musk’s actions ran afoul of European Union protections for free speech.
Musk until recently had insisted he was a “free speech absolutist.”
Journalists and others were outraged by Musk’s crackdown on Lorenz, apparently punishing her for requesting comment from the billionaire.