Twitter bans account tracking Elon Musk’s private jet

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Jack Sweeney called out Twitter CEO Elon Musk for suspending his jet-tracking account after previously saying it was free speech.
• Musk suspended the account, which tracked his jet’s location, and created a new policy against “doxxing” or revealing a person’s current location.
• Musk cited security concerns, especially after a “crazy stalker” recently followed his little son.

Elon Musk’s policy of allowing unfettered free speech on Twitter was questioned after a Twitter account tracking his private jet’s location was suspended on Wednesday.

The account, @ElonJet, is operated by 20-year-old student Jack Sweeney.

He shared a screenshot of the initial suspension, which showed that the account was “permanently suspended” after “careful review.” The notice read, “Your account is permanently in read-only mode, which means you can’t Tweet, Retweet, or Like content. You won’t be able to create new accounts.”

Musk later reinstated the account after imposing a new user policy that prohibits “doxxing,” which is publicly disclosing someone’s identity, address, or other personal, private details.

Musk wrote on Twitter, “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.”

He clarified that people can post travel locations, but it should be “on a slightly delayed basis” so that it doesn’t pose issues on safety.

He later explained that a “crazy stalker” followed his son, “lil X,” thinking it was him.

Musk added, “Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.”

The @elonjet account had over 526,000 followers before it no longer became viewable after a brief reinstatement.

Sweeney, the account’s operator, accused Musk of hypocrisy in an interview with The Associated Press. He stated, “He said this is free speech and he’s doing the opposite.”

Just a few weeks before, Musk said that he would not be banning the account due to his “commitment to free speech.” 

Sweeney started the account as a teenager in 2020. The account automatically posts the Gulfstream jet’s flight map and an estimated amount of jet fuel and carbon emissions it expended, which is publicly available for anyone who cares to look.

He said that the note of his account’s permanent suspension didn’t explain how it broke the platform’s rules. He appealed the suspension before his personal account and several other accounts were also suspended over “platform manipulation and spam.”

When his account was briefly reinstated, he thought his appeal was successful, until all his accounts were suspended yet again.

Musk previously offered the teen $5,000 to take the jet-tracking account down, citing the same security reasons. The teen countered with $50,000 and the billionaire considered it at first, but didn’t contact him again.

Sweeney said that he would appeal again, adding that he is willing to place a delay on the location tracking.

Source: Fox Business