Twitter bans, then unbans account tracking Elon Musk’s jet

Hours after Twitter suspended Elon Musk’s private jet movement tracking account, the company reversed its decision and brought it back online.

Florida-based Sweeney created an automated elonjet account in June 2020 and has since amassed over half a million followers. Using publicly available data, it automatically posts a tweet every time Musk’s jet takes off and lands, detailing departure and arrival locations, as well as flight times, fuel costs and CO2 emissions.

Musk, who acquired Twitter in late October for $44 billion, has repeatedly expressed displeasure with the automated account, citing security concerns, but recently vowed not to ban it. it’s because of its stance on freedom of speech.

“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 in early November.

On Wednesday, after apparently fixing the issue internally, Twitter support posted a series of tweets outlining the updated privacy information.

“We’ve updated our Private Information policy to prohibit sharing someone else’s live location in most cases. Here’s what changed and why,”

“When someone shares an individual’s live location on Twitter, there is an increased risk of physical harm. Moving forward, we’ll remove tweets that share this information, and accounts dedicated to sharing someone else’s live location will be suspended.”

“You can still share your own live location on Twitter. Tweets that share someone else’s historical location information are also not prohibited by this policy. Content that shares location information related to a public engagement or event, such as a concert or political event, is also permitted.”

In a tweet later on Wednesday, Musk attempted to clarify the situation regarding @elonjet, saying that

“posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem.”

“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 Chief Executive Officer of Twitter

The “slightly slow” or “out of date” factor means that Sweeney may need to tweak @elonjet’s algorithms to ensure the account isn’t suspended again.

Confusingly, other Twitter accounts created by Sweeney to track the movements of private jets owned by the likes of Donald Trump, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos remain suspended.

In January, Musk offered Sweeney $5,000 to delete the @elonjet account. Sweeney responded by asking for $50,000, saying the money would help him continue in college, but Musk didn’t push any further.