Apparently the bans were because journalists were posting about Mastodon being banned on Twitter. They shared a tweet containing a screenshot of a tweet from Mastodon linking to a Mastodon profile ran by the ElonJet guy.
The tweets didn't include any "doxxing" materials even under Elon's new definition.
So you are completely right about him making stuff up as he goes along lol.
The hastily written new policy from yesterday carves out an explicit exemption for reporters that's being ignored today. https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/personal-info...
> For media, the following are not in violation of our policy:
> * the media is publicly available or is being covered by mainstream media;
> * the media and the accompanying tweet text add value to the public discourse or are shared in public interest;
> * contains eyewitness accounts or on the ground reports from developing events;
> * the subject of the media is a public figure.