The US State Department took the unusual step of joining the chorus of critics weighing in on Elon Musk’s snap decision to suspend the accounts of reporters and others who cover him, suggesting his actions are inconsistent with principles of free speech.
Musk’s action on Thursday has opened a new front for complaints and concerns in Congress, the administration and overseas about how he’s running one of the world’s most influential social media platforms.
Asked what message Musk’s suspension sends to other countries, department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said Friday 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,” Patel said. “But what I will say is this department’s support for free speech and freedom of the press is well documented.”
The comment was a rare foray into the controversy by the Biden administration, which has largely declined to comment about Musk’s actions.
It’s not clear that this latest controversy will rise to the level of congressional action. But lawmakers in the House and Senate had already been considering bringing Musk in to testify next year on a variety of issues. The backlash against Musk also has spread among senior European politicians, with threats of future sanctions and lawmakers leaving the platform.
Musk’s move “only underscores the danger of his erratic leadership,” Representative Adam Schiff said in a statement. “He should immediately reinstate the suspended journalists and provide clarity to Congress on the rash decision to ban them in the first place.“
“Musk’s willingness to tolerate hate and his intolerance for journalistic criticism make a mockery of his claims to support moderation or free speech,” Schiff said.
Some Democrats and Republicans in the US have raised concerns about his business ties to China as Tesla Inc.’s chief executive. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin on Friday asked Musk to respond to questions about how he is handling the threat of child exploitation given staff cutbacks at Twitter. A GOP aide said separately the new Republican House majority is likely to ask him to come as well to testify about alleged anti-conservative bias, as well as links to China and other topics.
Democratic Representative Lori Trahan of Massachusetts tweeted late Thursday that she had earlier met with a Twitter representative who promised the company would not retaliate against tweets critical of the company.
“What’s the deal, @elonmusk?” she tweeted.
Trahan hasn’t gotten a response, Francis Grubar, a spokesperson, said.
Musk has responded to the controversy generally, tweeting that criticizing him is fine “but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not.”
Republicans have generally applauded the changes Musk has made since taking over Twitter, including reinstating former President Donald Trump and other figures on the right. Democrats have been more wary of him loosening content moderation and restoring controversial accounts.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted some sympathy for Musk’s concerns about safety along with some advice. “Take a beat and lay off the proto-fascism. Maybe try putting down your phone.”
Musk tweeted back. “You first lol.”
The New York Democrat said in additional tweets that her whereabouts have posted on the platform and elsewhere.
“As someone who has been subject to real + dangerous plots, I do get it. I didn’t have security and have experienced many scary incidents,” she tweeted at Musk. “In fact, many of the right-wing outlets you now elevate published photos of my home, car, etc.”
Musk suspended journalists for news organizations including The Washington Post and The New York Times who were reporting on the suspensions of a Twitter account tracking the location of his private jet, as well as accounts tracking other private jets. He tweeted that the jet-tracking accounts gave out the equivalent of “assassination coordinates.” He polled his 121 million followers about how long the suspensions should last.
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose personal account was suspended earlier this year for violating Covid-19 misinformation policies, before Musk bought the company, criticized “political activists in the press” for complaining about bans while advocating that she and others be silenced.
Her account was reinstated last month, and Greene tweeted Friday that despite threats she’s faced, “I am still against censorship.”
Democrats criticized Musk for enacting the bans while claiming to promote free speech.
“So much for this being about free speech,” tweeted Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, one of the Democrats dinging the suspensions as running contrary to the principles Musk stated as his for spending $44 billion for the global network. Heinrich, like Ocasio-Cortez, is among a number of prominent Democrats who bought emissions-free Teslas for personal transport in recent years but have soured on Musk. The Tesla and now-Twitter CEO urged followers to vote for Republicans last year.
Representative Don Beyer of Virginia also criticized Twitter for labeling all links to Mastodon, a social media service that has emerged as a rival to Twitter, as potentially malicious, including his own congressional Mastodon account.
But another House Democrat, Eric Swalwell of California, said it’s ultimately Musk’s call how to run Twitter.
“Twitter can suspend whoever it wants,” he tweeted. “It’s a private company. That’s how free markets work.” He said he’s tired of those on the right complaining about Twitter’s rules before Musk took over. “The alternative MAGA-whiners want is government control (Communism),” he said.
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