The article includes editorial content that is the opinion of the writer. It also includes information on our partners over at OfficerPrivacy.com
Los Angeles, CA: Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur recently banned several national level journalists from Twitter for allegations they played a part in ‘doxxing’ his family member’s location.
‘Doxxing’ is real problem for the law enforcement community. In case you don’t already know, it is defined by Oxford dictionary as:
“The search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the internet, typically with malicious intent.”
Elon Musk, the head of several large corporations, most notably Tesla and recently Twitter, said the doxxing put his family at risk.
Now he is facing some backlash over the decision to ban the journalists, most of whom are connected to liberal media outlets. A chunk of the criticism comes from Musk’s prior declaration and commitment to free speech.
One of the Musk’s calling cards to acquire Twitter (at a whopping $44 billion) stemmed from his staunch belief that Twitter execs suppressed tweets and controlled narratives- hence his desire for free speech.
1. TWITTER FILES: PART 7
The FBI & the Hunter Biden Laptop
How the FBI & intelligence community discredited factual information about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings both after and *before* The New York Post revealed the contents of his laptop on October 14, 2020
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 19, 2022
Cleaning Up Twitter
Once the mega deal of the century went through and he acquired Twitter, Musk swiftly fired much of the staff, beginning with several executives.
He then went straight to work.
Months later, Elon Musk tasked well known investigative journalist and author Matt Taibbi to scrub old Twitter records. The goal was to confirm what Musk feared regarding the suppression of Tweets, particularly from conservative personalities.
And the results were shocking- but not surprising.
In series of Twitter posts Taibbi called the ‘Twitter files’, he highlighted many of the posts, email exchanges, and DM’s from then-Twitter staff.
The most notable Twitter file release details the Hunter Laptop story and how the NY Post tweet revealing contents of the laptop was suppressed and their account suspended. It was revealed that Twitter executives allegedly ordered staff to suppress the story under their ambiguous ‘hacking’ policy.
Musk Bans Journalists
The Twitter files were meant to be a beacon to the future of Twitter and how free speech will be honored.
But Musk was criticized for his decision to ban several prominent journalists after a doxxing related incident involving him and his son.
Last week, it was reported that a ‘crazed stalker’, later identified as Brandon Collado, followed a car in Los Angeles who he believed carried Elon Musk. However, it was later revealed that the car was carrying Musk’s 2-year-old son.
It was reported that Collado blocked the vehicle and jumped on the hood of the car, likely frightening the occupants.
Fortunately, no one was injured. However, a video of Collado was taken and posted on social media.
The story gets weirder.
Anyone recognize this person or car? pic.twitter.com/2U0Eyx7iwl
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2022
According to a NY Post column published on December 19th, it stated:
“‘I am the guy in this video,’ Collado reportedly wrote in response to the clip that Musk, 51, claimed showed his ‘crazy stalker’ who’d ‘climbed onto [the] hood’ of a car carrying ‘lil X,’ his 2-year-old son, X Æ A-Xii.”
It continued:
“But Collado then told Musk: ‘You have connections to me and have stalked me and my family for over a year.’”
After the harrowing encounter, Musk and Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists that are believed to have been contributing to the posting of Musk’s apparent location- aka doxxing.
A Parent’s Concern
Musk’s decision to ban the journalists came with criticism.
But who can blame him? As a parent, if there’s even a hint of danger directed at your children, you will do everything possible to protect them.
If that means controlling anyone potentially responsible for putting a child at risk, than so be it.
Musk backed his decision with a reasonable explanation that was driven by common sense. Anyone doxxing and putting people at risk will simply not be tolerated.
Protect Yourself
This type of scenario could easily happen to anyone in law enforcement. We all know criminals often don’t let go of things and could easily blame the cop for getting caught.
Take a clever and vindictive felon who wants revenge- and they can easily go online and track the officer who busted him.
Another possibility: an officer can get involved with a high-profile incident like a shooting. Media outlets nationwide love nothing more than to paint the officer in a negative light- leaving out valuable and relevant context to prove the officer did the right thing.
Those incidents often lead to the officer getting doxxed and an angry mob showing up in their front lawn.
No officer wants that- it is intrusive, destructive and puts the family at risk
Officer Privacy
That is why services like Officer Privacy exist. The web based, retired LEO owned company swipes all personal information from the internet. They make it virtually impossible for anyone to track your information down and become a doxxing victim.
If you want protect yourself and your family, visit them at www.officerprivacy.com
If someone can track Elon Musk on the web, how hard will it be to track you?
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