Twitter’s recent ban of accounts belonging to several notable tech journalists who hail from many of the nation’s top news outlets shouldn’t be a surprise given what we know of its newest CEO. The multi-billionaire and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, claims to be in favor of free speech, and stated that “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” 

Twitter accounts belonging to former Vox reporter Aaron Rupar, WAPO’s Drew Harwell, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, andNew York Times reporter Ryan Mac, and commentator Keith Olbermann were all abruptly permanently suspended last week. These and other journalists have been critical of many of Musk’s policies, such as his opposition to union efforts, the firing of Twitter employees who criticized him, and his support for fringe MAGA candidates during the midterms. 

Musk publicly claimed that the journalists had violated the new “doxxing” policy by sharing the “exact real-time” location, of his private jet. He claimed that the Twitter account @elonjet provided possible “assassination coordinates,” and threatened legal action against the account’s operator, saying his son had been mistakenly followed by a “crazy stalker” because of the account. However, none of the banned journalists have ever shared Musk’s real-time locations in their Twitter feeds. 

The move brought criticism from lawmakers in Washington. Last Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Musk to “lay off the proto-fascism” and “disconnect,” and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), went beyond the ban of journalists, and criticized Musk’s reinstatement of right-wing Twitter accounts. Schiff said, “Musk’s willingness to tolerate hate and his intolerance for journalistic criticism make a mockery of his claims to support moderation or free speech. He should immediately reinstate the suspended journalists and provide clarity to Congress on the rash decision to ban them in the first place.“

Banning journalists is straight out of the autocratic playbook.

Let’s look at some notable dictators and oligarchs who have silenced, oppressed, and even executed journalists who have criticized their actions. Mussolini, himself a newspaperman before he rose to power, used a combination of censorship and propaganda to shape Italian opinion (today’s Italian new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is behind a surge of attacks against journalists and critics). In Nazi Germany business-run newspapers were co-opted by the Third Reich, and some of the first victims sent to concentration camps were political opponents. For example, Fritz Gerlich, a noted historian, journalist, and Nazi critic was arrested on March 9, 1933, and sent to Dachau where he died on 30 June 1934 during the Night of the Long Knives.

More recently Hungary’s Victor Orban Orban censored national news as well as the arts. Journalists and writers have been forced to flee Russia after criticizing Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as the autocratic leader continues to censor coverage of the war. The autocratic governments in North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, and Brazil have banned or severely restricted independent media outlets by intimidating journalists with threats of imprisonment, surveillance, and other types of harassment.

In our country, Trump, since the beginning of his presidency, has continuously raised doubts about the validity and reliability of the press, famous for his comments about “fake news.” 

Musk’s targeting of journalistic critics on Twitter is just another symptom of autocratic censorship. Let’s face it, autocrats and dictators don’t like to be called on the carpet, and they’ll do anything to shape the facts in order to suit their own narrative.