Statement from the AFPC-USA Club Concerning Elon Musk's Suspension of Journalists' Twitter Accounts

The following is a statement from the Club of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (AFPC-USA) following Elon Musk’s decision to ban several prominent journalists on Twitter, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell and other journalists who have covered the saga unfolding at Twitter, which has been riddled with scandals since Musk acquired it in October.

The official statement is as follows:

The Club of Foreign Press Correspondents USA (AFPC-USA Club) is deeply troubled by Twitter’s decision to suspend several reporters.

The move is out of step with Elon Musk’s previously stated desire to protect free speech. Many of our members come from countries where journalists face censorship or retaliation just for doing their jobs, and we are dismayed to see this apparently arbitrary clampdown on free expression. 

Musk claimed the journalists violated his new “doxxing” policy by sharing his “exact real-time” location, saying these violations are akin to providing “assassination coordinates,” though he has failed to substantiate this claim. Musk later reinstated the suspended accounts while still claiming that they'd "doxxed" him.

The Club of the AFPC-USA is a membership organization dedicated to advance the professional status and broadening the career opportunities of credentialed foreign correspondents representing global media in the United States.