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Elon Musk restores suspended Twitter accounts of journalists

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Following a debate over the reporting of publicly available information on the billionaire’s plane, Elon Musk has restored the Twitter accounts of many journalists who had been suspended.

Officials, advocacy groups, and journalism organisations voiced concerns that the extraordinary suspensions threatened press freedom.

Musk said on Thursday that the journalists who “doxed” (publicly disclosed private information) about his whereabouts were a direct cause for suspending the accounts because they threatened his family’s safety.

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He then took to Twitter to poll followers on how long they thought the accounts should be locked. It later revealed that most respondents want prompt access to their accounts.

“The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now,” Musk stated in a tweet on Saturday.

Journalists from The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington Post were among those suspended; they have since been restored.

Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has been criticised by officials from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the European Union for the suspensions.

In response to Musk’s decision to block access to Twitter for journalists, French Minister of Industry Roland Lescure said on Friday that he, too, would be taking a Twitter break.

UN spokesperson Melissa Fleming expressed her “deeply disturbed” and “media freedom is not a toy” tweets in response to the suspensions.

The German Foreign Ministry warned Twitter about its concerns over actions that threaten press freedom.

Musk’s electric car business Tesla saw its stock drop by 4.7% on Friday, its worst weekly loss since March 2020, due to the news.

ElonJet, a Twitter account that used publicly available data to track Musk’s private plane, was at the centre of the dispute that led to the suspension of the accounts.

Musk has previously stated that he would not remove the account to protect free speech. However, on Wednesday, Twitter disabled it along with a few others that monitored private aircraft. Shortly after that, Twitter altered its privacy settings to forbid users from disclosing their “live location information.”

On Twitter, Musk stated, “the same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else” and added, “criticising me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not.”

Later, Musk claimed that journalists had violated Twitter’s rules by publishing what amounted to “basically assassination coordinates,” although he offered no proof of this accusation.

Donnie O’Sullivan, a CNN reporter, also suspended, claimed that he hadn’t told anyone where Musk’s plane was.

Private services like FlightAware and Flightradar24 routinely distribute online publicly available flight tracking data gathered by the United States Federal Aviation Administration.

Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, stated that her team had manually evaluated “any and all accounts” that had broken the new privacy policy by sharing links to ElonJet.

Irwin’s email states, “I understand that the focus seems to be mainly on journalist accounts.” Still, the policy was applied equally to journalistic and non-journalistic accounts that day.

Once he acquired Twitter in a $44 billion purchase in October, Musk immediately began cutting jobs, revamping the platform’s moderation procedures, and reactivating suspended accounts, including those of former US President Donald Trump.

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BREAKING: APC Suspends Ganduje – 365 News

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Lifestyle Nigeria gathered that the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ganduje Ward of Dawakin Tofa local government area of Kano State has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, from the party.

The announcement was made by the ward’s legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, who addressed journalists in Kano on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo stated.

He said the suspension subsists until he clears himself from the allegations.

Details Later…

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Coastal Highway Dispute: Obi Calls Out Umahi to Substantiate Allegations

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Peter-Obi-and-Dave-Umahi

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has addressed what he calls the “distortion of facts” surrounding his actions and statements during his tenure as governor of Anambra State, particularly concerning the ongoing demolitions for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal super highway.

In a statement on Thursday via his X account, Obi stated, “I aim to address these issues directly, devoid of political rhetoric, to ensure clarity for all. Let me be unequivocal: during my governorship, I made it abundantly clear that all structures obstructing existing roads and lacking approval would be removed.”

Referring to a circulated Update, Obi clarified, “The circulated Update clearly stated this, and I only initiated removal when construction had already commenced. Any insinuation otherwise is a blatant misrepresentation of the truth.”

He challenged critics, saying, “I challenge anyone to verify and show me where the demolished structures on existing roads or ongoing businesses were not encroaching on the road and built without government approval while I served as governor.”

Obi cited the demolition of the Onitsha North local government headquarters situated on the only existing stadium.

“I decisively demolished the Onitsha North local government headquarters situated on the only existing stadium, relocated, and built a brand new structure for the local government office away from the stadium,” he explained.

He further detailed his actions as aimed at restoring the stadium to its original purpose and honouring Nigerian sports heroes.

“This action was necessary to restore the stadium to its original purpose as a sporting facility for the people. Subsequently, the stadium was rightfully named after the first owner of the first football club figure in Nigerian sports, Chuba Ikpeazu, as a tribute to our commitment to honouring our heroes,” Obi stated.

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Akpabio: No Nigerian Will Work Under Inhuman Conditions Again

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Akpabio

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has assured Nigerian workers that the National Assembly and the executive arm of government would work collaboratively to give them a living wage and better working conditions.

The Senate President declared that “No Nigerian worker will again be allowed to work under inhuman conditions. We will do everything to give you the best because you deserve the best.”

He made the declaration in a statement on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Eseme Eyiboh, to congratulate the workers as they commemorate the 2024 May Day.

Akpabio, in the message, extolled the sterling qualities that stood out to the Nigerian workers, saying, “A Nigerian worker is noted for his patriotism, hard work, resilience, and dedication to duty.

“I am happy to be associated with the Nigerian workers in the last more than 25 years and I can attest to the fact that everywhere you go, the Nigerian worker’s spirit resonates profoundly.”

Speaking on this year’s theme for Workers’ Day, “Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate,” Akpabio promised that the National Assembly under his leadership was more than committed to ensuring the best working conditions for the Nigerian workers.

The Senate President reiterated that the theme for this year’s celebration was apt and in tune with the international best practices, assuring that nigeria would not be left behind.

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