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Its editor says Spaceflight Now was blocked from accessing Twitter while following a SpaceX rocket launch.
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The space news site is one of the few diligent live streamers to follow the launch.
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It’s unclear what Twitter rules Spaceflight Now may have violated or why its tweet was removed.
A space news site covering SpaceX’s first launch in 2023 may be the latest journalistic account to be locked down on Twitter.
SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon Musk, launched 114 small satellites into orbit on Tuesday. As they usually do, a handful of news sites and YouTube channels diligently tracked the launch, from preparations an hour before takeoff to the landing of the Falcon 9 rocket booster to Earth and placing the satellites into orbit.
One of these news sites, Spaceflight Now, which broadcast the mission live, suddenly stopped posting on Twitter towards the end of the launch. The website’s editor, Stephen Clark, said in a tweet: bill He was locked out “for violating vague rules while watching a SpaceX launch.”
Insider was unable to confirm these details. Clark did not share any further information. He, Twitter, and SpaceX did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Spaceflight Now Twitter account did not appear to be suspended, but was flagged with a banner stating that his latest tweet violated Twitter rules. That tweet was not visible.
Since Musk took ownership of Twitter in October, the company has been rocked by changing rules and layoffs. In December, Twitter abruptly suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists who had followed Musk and his takeover.
Musk said it was because they were “doxxing” its location “in real time” by sharing links to publicly available information about the location of his private jet. The next day, he announced that accounts would be reinstated, citing the results of a Twitter poll in which he asked people to vote on whether accounts should be restored.
It is unclear whether Musk was involved in this latest incident.
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