NBC News has temporarily barred one of its senior reporters, Ben Collins, from appearing on its airwaves to report on Elon Musk.
The temporary suspension, which covers both NBC and MSNBC, was instated because of Collins’ activity on the social media platform Twitter. Collins, who covers disinformation and extremism on the internet, violated NBC News’ editorial standards in a number of tweets critical of Musk, according to Semafor.
Collins has ramped up criticism of Musk since the businessman purchased Twitter in a $44 billion deal earlier this year. Musk then instated a series of changes to the platform, rolling back some of Twitter’s censorship policies and reinstating previously banned accounts. Collins has claimed that Musk’s decision to purchase Twitter and make the company private would remove “guardrails” from the site and make content moderation “capricious.”
One of Collins’ tweets reportedly cited by NBC higher-ups who made the decision to suspend the tech reporter was a post mocking Musk over his ignorance of former Twitter deputy general counsel James Baker.
“The scandal here is that Elon Musk discovered who his company’s deputy general counsel was six weeks after he purchased it,” Collins tweeted on December 6.
The scandal here is that Elon Musk discovered who his company's deputy general counsel was six weeks after he purchased it. pic.twitter.com/vGgKrHcOHv
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) December 7, 2022
Collins’ suspension, which was instated sometime earlier, was revealed after Twitter suspended a group of prominent journalists after the company instated a new policy banning the sharing of people’s real-time location. A few of those suspended include Drew Harwell of The Washington Post, Ryan Mac of The New York Times, and Donie O’Sullivan of CNN.
The series of bans followed Musk’s decision to kick off an account that tracked the entrepreneur’s private jet. Musk said the real-time tracking of people is a safety issue.
“Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info,” Musk said in a series of tweets on Wednesday explaining the new policy. “Posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok.”
“Last night, car carrying lil X in LA was followed by crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked car from moving & climbed onto hood,” he added.
Media outlets employing some of the suspended journalists released statements criticizing Twitter’s action, according to The New York Times.
“Tonight’s suspension of the Twitter accounts of a number of prominent journalists, including The New York Times’s Ryan Mac, is questionable and unfortunate,” NYT spokesman Charlie Stadtlander said in a statement. “Neither The Times nor Ryan have received any explanation about why this occurred. We hope that all of the journalists’ accounts are reinstated and that Twitter provides a satisfying explanation for this action.”
CNN spokeswoman Kristine Coratti Kelly said the suspensions are “concerning but not surprising” and that “Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses” the platform.