Jacqueline Sweet, a US-based journalist, on Sunday said her account on X (formerly Twitter) was suspended, and links to her recent article in The Spectator were blocked. The article debunked an alleged conspiracy theory that an X account posting as a fan of Elon Musk was secretly operated by the billionaire himself.
Sweet’s investigation, alongside collaborators, revealed that the account in question belonged to Adrian Dittmann, a man apparently living in Fiji, who frequently posts in support of Musk. It disproved the widely circulated theory that Musk was masquerading as Dittmann online.
After Sweet shared her findings on X, Musk jokingly responded, “I am Adrian Dittmann. It’s time the world knew.”
Shortly afterward, Sweet’s account was suspended for allegedly violating rules on “Posting private information.” Sweet denied any wrongdoing, asserting her article did not include private details like phone numbers or photos. Links to the article and related blog posts by her collaborators were also blocked, with users encountering error messages suggesting technical issues.
Sweet speculated that Musk’s reaction might have influenced the platform’s actions.
In a follow-up article, Matt McDonald, managing editor of The Spectator, defended Sweet’s work, emphasising its importance in addressing misinformation. McDonald stated that the piece relied solely on public information to debunk a conspiracy theory of public interest, particularly given Musk’s global influence.
Meanwhile, Adrian Dittmann publicly clarified on X that he is not Elon Musk, dismissing the claims as baseless. X has not commented on the matter.