The suspensions, which happened without prior warning late on Thursday, came as Musk accused journalists of endangering his family by “doxxing”, or disclosing nonpublic information, about his location.
The suspended journalists include reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Intercept and Voice of America.
“Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” Musk wrote on Twitter, adding that “the same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else”.
Musk later accused journalists of posting “basically assassination coordinates” in violation of the platform’s policies, Al Jazeera reported.
Flight tracking data collected by the United States Federal Aviation Administration is public information and routinely shared online by private websites such as FlightAware and Flightradar24.
Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, has pledged to encourage a diversity of views on Twitter and tackle what he views as its liberal bias under the platform’s previous management.
Since taking over the platform in a $44bn deal in October, Musk has slashed Twitter’s workforce, overhauled its moderation policies and restored previously banned accounts, including that of former US President Donald Trump.