Twitter's decision to suspend the accounts of several journalists who cover Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has had a big impact on the social media landscape. Mastodon, an open-source social network, has seen a huge spike in user growth since the news broke. According to a popular Mastodon tracking bot, the platform was averaging around 20,000 new accounts daily but has gained more than 70,000 new users in the past 24 hours. Most of the journalists who were suspended by Twitter have accounts on Mastodon, and many of them have been actively encouraging their followers to join the platform. The Twitter ban has been widely criticized by many, including Musk himself. In a tweet, he called the ban "unacceptable" and said that "the power to censor people should not be concentrated in the hands of a few." The incident has reignited the debate over social media censorship and the power of tech giants like Twitter. It has also highlighted the importance of alternative social networks like Mastodon, which offer more freedom of expression than their corporate counterparts. For now, it remains to be seen whether the surge in user growth on Mastodon will continue or if it will be just a short-term spike.