Wikipedia adds ‘Thursday Night Massacre’ entry for Twitter suspension of journalists

A new entry in Wikipedia called “Thursday Night Massacre” documents the suspension of nine mainstream media journalists from Twitter on December 15^th. The term originated from the journalists themselves after they were suspended for 48 hours following violations of Twitter’s rules. 

Twitter owner Elon Musk issued a public warning last week against “doxxing” — internet slang for publicizing private information about an individual — promising that those who dox others will be suspended. The warning came after Musk suspended Twitter account @ElonJet for posting information about the real-time location of his private jet following an incident where a stalker attacked the car carrying Musk’s child. 

Some journalists shared information related to @ElonJet and were promptly suspended. They were independent journalist Aaron Rupar, the New York Times’ Ryan Mac, the Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, Mashable’s Matt Binder, the Intercept’s Micah Lee, Tony Webster, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Insider’s Linette Lopez. As of this report, most were reinstated. 

“Same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else,” Musk said. 

The decision to suspend the reporters was met with fierce backlash, primarily from censorship advocates, with one MSNBC guest suggesting the European Union should “sanction” the platform. Micah Lee wrote an article in the Intercept about his suspension, calling it the “Thursday Night Massacre”.  

“I got suspended from Twitter yesterday. I’m one of at least eight journalists who were casualties of Elon Musk’s ‘Thursday Night Massacre,’ after the billionaire went on a power-hungry suspension spree,” Lee complained. “Twitter didn’t explain what rules I allegedly broke — but that’s to be expected under the new management, whose transparency has mostly consisted of Musk personally replying to tweets explaining his decision-making. My suspension is likely temporary, or it could be permanent. Who knows?” 

Sheila Dang also used the term in an article for Reuters. 

“The episode, which one well-known security researcher labeled the ‘Thursday Night Massacre’, is being regarded by critics as fresh evidence of Musk, who considers himself a ‘free speech absolutist,’ eliminating speech and users he personally dislikes,” wrote Dang. 

Another article in Mediaite was headlined, “Twitter Suspends Several Reporters Who Cover Elon Musk in Thursday Night Massacre.” 

The journalists were originally intended to be suspended for seven days, but Musk reinstated most after only two following a poll he took of 3.7 million Twitter users in which 58.7% voted to reinstate the accounts “now” while 41.3% voted for “In 7 days.” 

“The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now,” tweeted Musk. 

A Wikipedia page about the suspensions called “Thursday Night Massacre” has been created on Wikipedia. 

“December 15th is the new January 6^th,” quipped political commentator Matt Walsh.