Twitter Suspends Several Journalists’ Accounts; Know What Is ‘Doxxing’

New York: Twitter accounts of several journalists have been suspended for sharing private information about Elon Musk’s whereabouts.

Among those accused by the owner of the social media platform include journalists working for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and other publications.

“Same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else,” Musk tweeted on Thursday.

“Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” Musk added later, describing the reporters’ actions as “basically assassination coordinates.”

The decision to suspend journalists’ accounts came a day after Musk permanently banned an account that automatically tracked the flights of his private jet using publicly available data.

Twitter also changed its rules for all users, prohibiting sharing of another person’s current location without his/her consent.

Doxxing Details

Doxxing – same as doxing – refers to disclosing someone’s identity, address or other personal details on the Internet, typically with malicious intent. It can be done through public source or recorded databases, even via social media platforms.

The information can be obtained through criminal or fraudulent means like hacking and social engineering.

Doxxing originates from ‘docs’ — abbreviated form of documents — and refers to ‘compiling and releasing a dossier of personal information’.