Donie O’Sullivan has broken his silence as he returns to Twitter following his suspension.
The Kerry native, who has worked for CNN since 2016, had his Twitter account suspended last December, along with a number of other journalists’, after reporting on the controversies surrounding new Twitter boss Elon Musk.
The Tesla founder stated that Twitter’s rule which bans doxxing – which is the sharing of personal information – applies to everyone on the social media platform, including journalists.
Following the suspensions, Elon tweeted: “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. Posting locations someone travelled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok.”
However, after receiving backlash over the suspensions, Elon tweeted: “The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now.”
Nearly two months later, Donie has finally been able to regain access to his Twitter account, and has broken his silence on the incident.
Alongside a statement, Donie penned: “👋 I’m back on Twitter to report about Twitter, for now!”
The Kerry native’s statement read: “My Twitter hiatus is over, for now. Back in December Twitter permanently suspended me and a few other journalists for reporting about an account that tracks Elon Musk’s private jet.”
“Since Musk took over Twitter the platform’s rules and indeed what accounts it bans and un-bans seem to be decided on a whim. Suspending a bunch of journalists left some questioning if Musk was the free speech absolutist he purports to be.”
“Realizing perhaps he had made a mistake, about 24 hours after we were permanently suspended, Musk lifted the suspensions.”
Donie continued to write: “My account was again accessible to Twitter users but Twitter removed the tweet it said broke its rules. I, however, have not been able to access my account. To get back on Twitter I had to accept that the tweet would be permanently deleted.”
“I appealed the decision but did not hear back from Twitter. Ultimately, I want access to my account so I can ensure people who reach out to my account through private message can still reach me.”
“So, I’m back on Twitter to report about Twitter, for now.”
— Donie O’Sullivan (@donie) February 10, 2023
Elon, who is the wealthiest person in the world, reached an agreement to acquire the social media platform back in April.
However, back in July it was reported that Twitter had opted to sue the business mogul after he had pulled out of the multi-billion-dollar takeover.
But in October, Elon tweeted, “the bird is freed,” and changed his bio to read “Chief Twit”, signifying his purchase of Twitter.
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Donie shot to fame last January after he impressed CNN viewers with his calm reporting during the Capitol Hill riots in Washington D.C.
The Kerry man’s newfound fame on social media was covered by multiple outlets in Ireland, and he subsequently made an appearance on The Late Late Show.
