By Oliver Darcy | CNN

Elon Musk’s Twitter on Thursday banned the accounts of multiple journalists covering the technology industry without explanation.

Accounts belonging to CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, and The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell and several other tech journalists were all abruptly suspended.

“Elon says he is a free speech champion and he is banning journalists for exercising free speech. I think that calls into question his commitment,” Harwell told CNN.

The account of progressive independent journalist Aaron Rupar was also banned. Rupar told CNN he has received no communication from Twitter about the ban. “Nothing,” he said in a phone call.

CNN has reached out to Musk and Twitter for comment.

The suspensions came after Twitter shut down on Thursday an account belonging to Mastodon, an emerging competitor.

Earlier in the day, the Twitter shut down on Thursday an account for Mastodon tweeted that people could follow @ElonJet, the account that tracks Musk’s private plane on its platform, after the billionaire banned @ElonJet from Twitter on Wednesday.