Ignorance, feigned or otherwise, was on full display from CNN’s Jim Acosta Saturday as he set to mocking Elon Musk over his safety concerns: “Does he think the U.S. Air Force is coming?”
(Video: CNN)
Corporate media has remained apoplectic since the billionaire owner of Twitter had the social media platform’s terms of service updated to prohibit doxxing and then followed through with suspensions of journalists this week who did so anyway. While Musk has since restored most of the accounts, following his polling method of resolving matters of public concern, some have remained locked out, and Acosta took serious offense at the premise.
Speaking with guest Steve Herman, Voice of America correspondent and Twitter suspendee, the CNN host attempted to slam Musk for his “pretty incendiary accusation” that posting links to his real-time location was “basically assassination coordinates.”
“Steven, I think Elon Musk was also making a pretty incendiary accusation. I mean if you’re a reporter covering a politician or a sporting event and you tweet that a senator has just arrived on the floor, that a player has arrived at the stadium–I suppose you’re talking about their real-time location,” Acosta said, “but if you’re talking about Elon Musk’s jet, I mean how in the world are you supposed to be providing precise coordinates at any given moment?”
“If you were to extrapolate this out and engage in this fantasy, I mean does he think the U.S. Air Force is coming?” he asked. “It’s just so strange!”
Late Thursday, Musk had posted following the bevy of suspensions, “Same doxxing rules apple to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else,” and, “”They posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service.”
They posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022
What Acosta conveniently ignored during his discussion on the bans was how the billionaire had not been speaking in hypotheticals when he reported his serious safety. On Wednesday, Musk announced that he was taking legal action against 20-year-old Jack Sweeney, the creator of the account @elonjet, for allegedly providing real-time location data about the entrepreneur’s movements.
Through access to that data, Musk asserted that a “crazy stalker” had been able to intercept a car believed to be transporting the billionaire to harass him. However, as he revealed, that vehicle was actually carrying his young son X. “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. Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.”
Jet-setting no longer: Musk bans kid who tracked his flighthttps://t.co/vDJmmuHHYb
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) December 15, 2022
Following Acosta’s suggestion that Musk had made “incendiary” remarks, Herman called the concerns “utterly ridiculous” and remained adamant that he would not delete his tweets linking to the location data.
Unsurprisingly, zero self-reflection was offered during the media banter wherein Herman could have considered his own “utterly ridiculous” and “incendiary” post from Thursday that referred to the temporary suspension of some reporters as a “massacre.”
“More reaction to the Thursday night massacre of journalists on #Twitter,” he wrote with as part of a thread dramatizing the knowingly committed infractions.
Saturday, well after Musk had reinstated many of those who had been suspended, the Chief Twit reacted to a post that contended “Real-time doxxing is illegal in California…It is not constitutionally protected speech.”
To that Musk wrote, “The journalists were aware of the violent stalker and yet still doxxed the real-time location of my family. Turns out that’s a criminal offense …”
The journalists were aware of the violent stalker and yet still doxxed the real-time location of my family. Turns out that’s a criminal offense …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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