Twitter suspends teenager tracking Musk jet, despite vow from billionaire not to
Christopher Hutton
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Twitter has permanently suspended all of the accounts operated by a teenager who tracked Elon Musk’s jet, despite a promise from the billionaire not to.
The social platform has permanently suspended multiple accounts operated by Jack Sweeney, a University of Central Florida student who programmed a series of Twitter bots to post the private jet activity of tech moguls and Russian oligarchs.
“My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,” Musk tweeted on Nov. 6.
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@elonjet, the original account, was permanently suspended early Wednesday, only for the remainder of Sweeney’s accounts also to be permanently suspended Wednesday afternoon. These include accounts that track Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and a Russian oligarch’s private jet.
Sweeney posted screenshots alleging that Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, had asked staff to shadowban the account. The screenshot is unverified.
Twitter has a policy banning sharing private information without permission, including details about a user’s GPS location. While Twitter’s previous owners did not suspend Sweeney’s accounts, Musk’s decision to do so now makes the decision appear personal. Musk has not commented on the ban since it was reported.
The account has been a pain for Musk, who attempted to pay Sweeney $5,000 to delete the account. Sweeney declined the offer and said he would consider it if Musk provided $50,000 and a Tesla Model 3.
The account is currently visible on Mastodon and on Truth Social.
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The social platform is currently in the state of adapting to Musk’s vision of content moderation. The company’s Trust and Safety Council, a third-party consulting organization for handling civil rights and online harassment, was dissolved on Tuesday after three members left. The company is also dealing with the implications of the “Twitter Files,” a series of internal documents released by Musk to allies regarding its approach to censorship.