The people have spoken.

Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now. https://t.co/MFdXbEQFCe

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2022

Elon Musk, chided by Twitter users who overwhelming demanded he reinstate the accounts of journalists and commentators who covered his erratic antics and struggling businesses, has reinstated the accounts of a number of journalists purged this week.

On Thursday, the accounts of Ryan Mac of The New York Times, Donie O’Sullivan of CNN, Drew Harwell of The Washington Post, Matt Binder of Mashable, Micah Lee of The Intercept, Steve Herman of Voice of America and independent journalists Aaron Rupar, Keith Olbermann and Tony Webster were suddenly suspended. The journalists who have talked to the media about this have stated that there was no warning or reason given.

Musk had claimed he suspended the accounts because they were doxxing his real-time location without his permission, but much of Twitter is people reporting celebrity sightings and activities, including much by journalists and paparazzi.  The information Musk objected to being posted was the location of his private jet on account @elonjet, information that can be found on multiple websites because aircraft locations are available in realtime. Accounts for @elonjet and Keith Olbermann appear to be still blocked as of 8:30 a.m. ET.  The accounts for Mac, Binder, Lee, Herman, Rupar, and Webster have been restored.

Musk faced immediate and harsh criticism for suspending the accounts, most of which had been linked to coverage of @elonjet.  Critics called the move fascist and authoritarian from a man who just weeks ago invited critics to post on Musk’s new toy, only to have their ability to cover him shut down by the platform for dubious claims that they doxxed his location by posting publicly available flight info.