Gee, Guess What Twitter Just Did to Accounts Critical of Elon Musk?

X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday temporarily suspended the accounts of multiple prominent journalists and left-leaning commentators and comedians, many of whom were critical of X owner Elon Musk.

The social media platform gave no explanation for the sudden purge, saying only that the accounts “violate the X rules.” The X rules prohibit violent or hateful speech, child exploitation, private information sharing, and fake information.

But the accounts in question do not post that kind of content. The reporters who were banned include Steven Monacelli, a journalist at the Texas Observer who covers extremism, and Ken Klippenstein, who covers national security for The Intercept. Last year, Klippenstein published a piece on the errors with Tesla’s self-driving feature, and Monacelli noted that X shadow-banned the Intercept author since then.

MintPress News reporter Alan MacLeod, who recently has extensively covered Israel’s approach to the war in Gaza, and leftist podcaster Rob Rousseau were also suspended Tuesday.

The accounts for @liamnissan, @zei_squirrel, and the TrueAnon podcast were suspended, as well. The @liamnissan account posts mostly comedic commentary, including criticisms of Musk. The TrueAnon podcast provides left-wing analysis of current political events and conspiracy theories.

The @zei_squirrel account is another left-leaning commentator who has been critical of Musk in the past. In a post on their Substack Tuesday, the @zei_squirrel writer noted that they had recently begun to criticize Bill Ackman, a hedge fund billionaire and friend of Musk’s who helped lead the campaign against former Harvard University President Claudine Gay. Ackman’s wife was recently accused of plagiarism, the same charge that brought down Gay.

All of the suspended accounts were reinstated a few hours later, but initially with significantly lower follower counts than before.

This is at least the fifth time that X, under Musk, has purged accounts that are the slightest bit critical of him, his friends, or causes he supports. Shortly after taking the social network’s reins in October 2022, the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” banned the accounts of multiple actors and comedians who made fun of him.

Just a month later, accounts for people including Dean Baker, the senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Andrew Lawrence, deputy director of rapid response at the left-wing watchdog Media Matters, were temporarily suspended. Both men have been critical of Musk. Also that month, the accounts for several high-profile journalists including Keith Olbermann, Aaron Rupar, Ryan Mac, and Drew Harwell were temporarily suspended.

Dell Cameron, a reporter for Wired, was banned in April last year for reporting on the hacker who targeted far-right commentator Matt Walsh.

Ironically, if X wants to ban an account that violates platform rules, the company need look no further than its owner. Musk’s personal account is a major source of hate speech and disinformation. In addition to aggressively antisemitic posts, Musk also regularly lets Nazis back on X, shares transphobic content, and spreads conspiracy theories.

This article has been updated.

Explosive new audio of Roger Stone reveals the longtime Trump ally was trying to plot the assassinations of two outspoken Democratic congressmen.

A few weeks before the 2020 election, Stone told a member of his security detail that he wanted either Representative Eric Swalwell or Representative Jerry Nadler (or both) killed, according to audio obtained by Mediaite. At the time, Nadler had just announced that the House Judiciary Committee, on which he and Swalwell serve, would investigate Trump’s decision to commute Stone’s sentence for federal crimes.

“It’s time to do it,” Stone told Sal Greco, then a member of the NYPD who was working as Stone’s security. “Let’s go find Swalwell. It’s time to do it. Then we’ll see how brave the rest of them are. It’s time to do it. It’s either Nadler or Swalwell has to die before the election. They need to get the message. Let’s go find Swalwell and get this over with. I’m just not putting up with this shit anymore.”

A source familiar with the conversation, speaking anonymously, told Mediaite they believed Stone was serious. “Stone had been at war with Nadler and Swalwell for years. He just hates them,” the source said. “He just wanted to get Trump back into office so these things would stop.”

Stone, a notorious conservative political operative, has long been a loyal Trump adviser and ally. Video footage released in August revealed that Stone began strategizing to overturn the 2020 election at least as early as November 5—two days before the vote had been called.

And Stone has been rewarded over the years for his loyalty. Stone was convicted in July 2019 in relation to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. Stone was found guilty of lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction of a proceeding.

Prosecutors wanted Stone to be sentenced to nine years in prison, but Trump’s Justice Department reportedly intervened to give him a shorter sentence. Then, just days before Stone was due to go to jail, Trump commuted his sentence entirely. Nadler announced the House Judiciary investigation into the commutation just a few days later.

Four of the prosecutors abruptly quit the case following the Justice Department’s intervention. At least one, Aaron Zelinsky, acknowledged he had left in protest. A separate audio recording revealed Stone wanted retribution against Zelinsky, as well.

“He needs to be punished,” Stone told Greco, who has not worked with the NYPD since August 2022. “You have to abduct him and punish him.”

Stone denied making the comments about Zelinsky, Swalwell, or Nadler and said the audio had been made with artificial intelligence.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft completely melted down on Monday when he tried to explain why it would be justified to kick Joe Biden off his state’s primary ballot.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced last week that it would decide whether Donald Trump should appear on state ballots. The former president has already been kicked off the ballot in Maine and Colorado. Ashcroft responded by threatening to remove Biden from the Missouri ballot if the Supreme Court doesn’t overturn the other states’ decisions.

When CNN anchor Boris Sanchez asked Ashcroft what justification he would have for such a move, Ashcroft faltered.

“There have been allegations that he’s engaged in insurrection,” Ashcroft said of Biden.

When Sanchez pressed him to give more details, Ashcroft said he had “seen allegations from the lieutenant governor of Texas,” but then suddenly seemed incapable of stringing a sentence together.

Earlier in the interview, Sanchez asked why Ashcroft felt he had the authority to remove Biden from the ballot. The Missouri state Constitution says that the secretary of state cannot unilaterally disqualify a candidate and would need to challenge a candidate’s eligibility in court. Ashcroft accused Sanchez of lying.

Ashcroft’s main argument seems to be that Trump shouldn’t be disqualified from a state ballot because he has not yet been convicted of insurrection, only accused of it. Ashcroft also said that states should not be able to disqualify candidates from the ballot, failing to see the irony of his threat to do just that to Biden.

A major difference, though, is that Trump has been indicted twice, once at the federal level and again at the state level, for trying to overturn the 2020 election. And all of the evidence that has been reported so far seems pretty damning.

Trump was disqualified last month from the primary ballots in Colorado and Maine, after the Colorado Supreme Court and Maine secretary of state determined that he had engaged in insurrection and was therefore constitutionally ineligible to run for president.

Shortly after the Colorado ruling, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (whom Ashcroft referred to in Monday’s disastrous interview) threatened to kick Biden off the Lone Star State’s ballot in retribution.

The Florida Republican Party overwhelmingly voted on Monday to remove its chairman, Christian Ziegler, as police investigate him for a rape allegation.

More than 200 members attended the meeting, and almost all voted to oust Ziegler, according to multiple reporters on scene. The party had already suspended Ziegler last month when the rape accusation first came to light and demanded he resign, but he had refused.

Police in Sarasota, Florida, began investigating Ziegler late last year after a woman said he raped her at her apartment in October. Ziegler and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, a co-founder of the far-right group Moms for Liberty, have admitted they had previously had a consensual sexual relationship with the accuser.

The woman says she and the Zieglers had planned to have a threesome on October 2, according to police reports. Bridget Ziegler was unable to attend. Christian Ziegler allegedly arrived at the woman’s apartment alone and assaulted her.

Neither of the Zieglers has been charged with a crime, but Christian Ziegler is currently under investigation. He is also being investigated for “video voyeurism.” According to police documents, Ziegler allegedly filmed the sexual encounter and then sent it to the woman on Instagram using “vanish mode.” Messages sent in “vanish mode” disappear after a certain period of time.

The Florida Republican Party said one of its main reasons for asking him to leave was the concern the investigation would hinder his ability to successfully lead the party during a competitive election cycle. Ziegler has denied the allegations.

Bridget Ziegler was asked to leave the Sarasota School Board, but she has refused. The Zieglers have repeatedly pushed anti-LGBTQ laws and regulations, particularly in schools. Their consensual relationship with another woman has led many—including other conservative parental rights activists—to accuse Bridget Ziegler of hypocrisy.

A Florida Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill that would make it defamation to accuse someone of racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia, a measure that would deal a devastating blow to freedom of speech in the Sunshine State.

The bill, which was introduced Friday, would make it much easier for someone to sue another person for defamation. The measure states that “an allegation that the plaintiff has discriminated against another person or group because of their race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity constitutes defamation per se.”

Proving “actual malice” is one of the main requirements of a successful defamation case. And this bill would make that easier, setting up conditions for a fact-finder to automatically infer that actual malice took place after an accusation of discrimination.

In cases of alleged homophobia or transphobia, defendants charged with defamation are not allowed to use the plaintiff’s religious or scientific beliefs as part of their defense. If they are found liable for defamation, the defendant could be fined at least $35,000.

The bill applies to statements made in print, on television, or on social media. It also states that someone who is caught in a viral video engaging in allegedly discriminatory behaviors does not qualify as a “public figure,” giving those people even more grounds to sue.

Finally, the bill removes certain journalistic privileges, particularly the right to keep sources anonymous. Statements from anonymous sources would be considered “presumptively false,” making journalists reporting on discrimination vulnerable to lawsuits.

“More attempts to chill free speech in the ‘free’ State of Florida,” Democratic state Representative Anna Eskamani tweeted about the measure.

The bill was introduced by state Senator Jason Brodeur, who, despite claiming he wants to protect free speech, has taken aim at the right to free speech multiple times. In 2023, he introduced a bill that would require paid bloggers who write about elected officials to register with the state. Such a registry of political writers and independent journalists would have allowed for increased surveillance.

Brodeur’s new bill is almost an exact copy of another measure introduced early last year. That original bill passed the Civil Justice Subcommittee but ultimately failed in the Judiciary Committee.

Florida increased its attacks on LGBTQ rights over the course of 2023. With Republicans holding both chambers of the state legislature and the governor’s office, the new version might stand a chance.

If the new bill does become law, it is unlikely to survive a legal challenge due to its clear violations of free speech and anti-discrimination laws. But as with so many Republican culture-war laws, the point is not to create good legislation. The point is to scare people.