Twitter CEO Elon Musk has taken strict measures to protect his safety by suspending a Twitter account that tracks his private jet, which he described as a breach of privacy.
The Twitter account @Elonjet which has more than one million followers was run by a Florida college student Jack Sweeney, who uses publicly available data to track the whereabouts of Elon Musk’s private jet.
This act infuriated Musk who did not hesitate to permanently suspend the Twitter account. After the account was suspended, Sweeney urged his followers to follow him on other platforms.
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Sweeney had disclosed in a tweet that his account dedicated to tracking employee jets at Musk’s company SpaceX was suspended. Shortly afterward, his account was suspended.
Recall that in November 2022, Musk tweeted that his commitment to free speech will ensure that the account that tracks his private jet will not be suspended.
My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
He wrote, “My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk”.
However, Musk seems to have backtracked on his promise following his recent suspension of the account. He discloses that legal action is now being taken against Sweeney and others.
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.
Posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2022
In a recent tweet, Musk said, “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. Posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok.
“Last night, the car carrying Lil X in LA was followed by a crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked the car from moving & climbed onto the hood. Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.
While few Twitter users agree with Musk’s decision to take legal action, several other Twitter users were displeased with his action.
@WalserWes said, “Dude, your plane’s flight plan is public info and is already tracked by multiple sites. Good luck with that legal action.”
@JoanSGarrison said, “Hilarious that you bought this whole platform claiming to be a free speech absolutist willing to publish anything legal. Then when it’s about you, you want to prosecute speech much less egregious and dangerous than things you used to claim were unfairly censored. What a sham.”
@mayhemsmasta said, “Understandable that you are upset, but to implicate sweeny in this way and threaten legal action against him is just shallow. You painted the target on yourself and your family, stop trying to blame a kid for your failure to reassess security protocols.”
Before Musk’s takeover of the micro-blogging company, in January this year, Musk sent a dm to Sweeney on Twitter and offered him $5,000 to delete @ElonJet, which he turned down the offer.
The college student urged Musk to increase the offer which he disclosed would be a great support for him in college and would possibly allow him to get a Tesla Model 3 vehicle.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Sweeney disclosed that he started the @ElonJet account in June 2020 because he was a fan of Musk’s work at Tesla and SpaceX where he’s CEO of both companies. “Even now, my dream car is definitely a Tesla,” Sweeney said.
Reports disclose that Sweeney also ran accounts dedicated to tracking the private flights of other notable figures like former U.S. President Donald Trump, Bill Gates, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. All three of those accounts have been suspended.
Following Musk’s recent action, Twitter’s Help Center has tweeted an updated media policy that states, “You may not publish or post other people’s private information without their express authorization and permission.”