美国国家公共电台 NPR--Twitter owner Elon Musk suspends the accounts of several high-profile journalists

Twitter owner Elon Musk¹ suspends the accounts of several high-profile journalists

Transcript²

Press freedom advocates are criticizing Elon Musk after he suspended the accounts of several high-profile journalists who cover him, and his chaotic³ leadership of the social media site.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Elon Musk is a loud and self-professed champion of free speech. Last night, though, he suspended the accounts of several journalists from major news outlets⁴.

ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:

Their offense⁵ - tweeting out publicly available information about the location of private planes used by Musk and his family.

MART?NEZ: NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn joins us now with more. Bobby, it's been quite a ride for Twitter the last few months. How did we get here?

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE⁶: Yeah, it really has been. So there's a bit of a history here. You know, a long time thorn in the side of Elon Musk has been this account known as @ElonJet. And it tracks, as you mentioned, the flight activity of Musk's private jets using publicly available information. It's run by this 20-year-old University of Florida student who loves aviation. Well, Musk offered him $5,000 to shut it down, and he refused. That was before Musk owned Twitter. Now that Musk does own Twitter, he decided⁷ to crack down. Musk has suspended the account. He changed Twitter policy, saying live information about someone's travel is basically doxxing. But things really took a shocking turn, A, when Musk last night suspended the accounts of about half a dozen high-profile journalists for simply writing about @ElonJet or tweeting links to it.

MART?NEZ: Yeah. So, I mean, it's kind of surprising - right? - that's what got those journalists suspended.

ALLYN: Yeah, exactly. And so Twitter says the journalists will be suspended for seven days and that future violators of this policy will face a similar fate. But, look, it's important to emphasize here that these journalists didn't have some kind of special surveilling powers, right? There were - the journalists were writing about an account that tracked Musk's jets, right? It started and ended with airports. We just knew what cities he or his jets were visiting. But Musk says that was enough to send what he described as a, quote, "crazy stalker" chasing after a car that one of his kids was riding in. Musk hasn't backed up the allegation with any documentation, but that is what he cited.

MART?NEZ: Yeah. So how have press freedom advocates responded to all this?

ALLYN: They are extremely alarmed. Jameel Jaffer, who heads the Knight⁸ First Amendment⁹ Institute at Columbia University, said, you know, it's disturbing, especially for someone who styles himself a champion of free speech. Other press advocates said it sets a dangerous precedent¹⁰ - right? - having this powerful billionaire who controls what's basically the front page of the internet banning journalists based on a personal animus¹¹.

MART?NEZ: So what do you think, Bobby? I mean, do we all have to sit now and be worried about retweeting something and all of a sudden get suspended somehow? Is that how it's going to work?

ALLYN: I guess so, A. I mean, the big lesson here is Twitter policy is written at the whim¹² of Elon Musk, right? And that can mean professional journalists like you and I trying to do our jobs - you know, I'm a tech reporter. I cover Elon and cover Twitter. Maybe one day, I'll be caught in the middle and be suspended, right? I mean, his rules are arbitrary and constantly moving. They're hard to keep up with. And another lesson here, I think, is increasingly Twitter is just becoming a place that is openly hostile to journalists. I mean, Musk has long been at war with the media, but silencing high-profile journalists for linking to publicly available information about his private jets I think is really a new low point in Musk's relationship with the media.

MART?NEZ: How does the line go - retweets are not an endorsement¹³ because they might get suspended or something like that?

ALLYN: (Laughter) Exactly.

MART?NEZ: Yeah. That's NPR's Bobby Allyn. Bobby, thanks.

ALLYN: Thanks, A.

1 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

4 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

9 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

10 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

11 animus   

n.恶意；意图

参考例句：

• They are full of animus towords us.他们对我们怀有敌意。
• When you have an animus against a person,you should give it up.当你对别人怀有敌意时，你应当放弃这种想法。

12 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

13 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。