Despite Elon Musk promising not to ban it, the Twitter account following his jet has been...

[midian182]

What just happened? The infamous Twitter account that tracked the private jet of Elon Musk has been suspended, despite the Twitter owner previously saying it would not be banned because of his commitment to free speech.

Jack Sweeney runs several accounts that track the private jets of many famous people rich enough to use one, including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, by using publicly available flight data.

The Florida college student gained a lot of publicity after he started following Musk's jet, partly because the billionaire offered him $5,000 to close the account as Musk didn't "love the idea of being shot by a nutcase." Sweeney said he'd remove it for $50,000, but the world's richest person never got back to him after saying he'd consider the offer.

One of Musk's promises before he took over Twitter was to turn it into a bastion of free speech. He doubled down on that statement after taking over the platform, noting that he wouldn't ban the account following his plane despite it being a risk to his personal safety.

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

It seems that Musk must have changed his mind. Sweeney tweeted a few days ago that the account had been visibly limited/restricted to a severe degree (I.e., shadow banned). He said an anonymous Twitter employee sent him a screenshot of message from the vice president of Twitter's Trust and Safety council asking for heavy filtering to be applied to @ElonJet.

Screenshots show Ella Irwin VP at Twitter Trust and Safety requesting elonjet to have heavy VF (visibility filtering) pic.twitter.com/ehHJpo4zQR

— Jack Sweeney (@JxckSweeney) December 11, 2022

Things started looking up for Sweeney on December 12, when he posted that the account following Musk's jet was no longer banned or hidden in any way. But that changed earlier today when he tweeted that it had been permanently suspended for violating Twitter's rules. The other jet-following accounts Sweeney runs are still operating. He suggests that those who want to follow Musk's jet do so on other platforms, including Instagram.

It is pic.twitter.com/Y1BdneGwwe

— Jack Sweeney (@JxckSweeney) December 14, 2022

Sweeney says the accounts hold private-jet owners accountable for the environmental damage they cause. While some users have praised his actions, others say they are a potential threat to people's lives.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/96970-despite-elon-musk-promising-not-ban-twitter-account.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

So twitter follows its own rules as well as it always has?

"guys we're not getting enough clicks, write another MUSK article!"

 

[yRaz]

To be fair, I don't blame him for this one. He is in legitimate danger with the crazies surrounding the Twitter affair. And, I'm not expert on constitutional law, but I don't really think posting a person's location is freespeach.

This is akin to stalking someone, atleast in my opinion

 

[Nima304]

To be fair, I don't blame him for this one. He is in legitimate danger with the crazies surrounding the Twitter affair. And, I'm not expert on constitutional law, but I don't really think posting a person's location is freespeach.

This is akin to stalking someone, atleast in my opinion

It's publicly available flight data, anyone who wanted to look up this information is free to do so. Aggregating that data and posting it publicly isn't a violation of free speech. Also, posting a person's location is absolutely free speech as well, similar to people posting selfies with celebrities as they're out and about. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not a constitutional right.

 

[yRaz]

It's publicly available flight data, anyone who wanted to look up this information is free to do so. Aggregating that data and posting it publicly isn't a violation of free speech. Also, posting a person's location is absolutely free speech as well, similar to people posting selfies with celebrities as they're out and about. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not a constitutional right.

You also can't scream fire in a movie theater. So are we going by the constitutional definition or the one set be legal precedent? It is publicly available data, but accessing it isn't exactly easy, neither is knowing what to look for. By doing this, he is making it easier for people to impulsively track and stalk Elon musk. People who might otherwise not have the knowledge or ability to do so.

While not exactly a free speech matter, there is a certain level of ethics at play here

 

[bviktor]

So twitter follows its own rules as well as it always has?

"guys we're not getting enough clicks, write another MUSK article!"

Except Musk's one and only promise was to lift permbans because "he doesn't believe in them"? You guys have the memory of a fly.

 

[ColdSoup]

You also can't scream fire in a movie theater. So are we going by the constitutional definition or the one set be legal precedent? It is publicly available data, but accessing it isn't exactly easy, neither is knowing what to look for. By doing this, he is making it easier for people to impulsively track and stalk Elon musk. People who might otherwise not have the knowledge or ability to do so.

While not exactly a free speech matter, there is a certain level of ethics at play here

99/100 times when someone says can't yell fire, they end up in Bad Legal Takes social media posts.

Flight records are public records. Just because Elon happens to own that particular plane and someone is re-publishing the flight plans and/or ADS-B data does not change the fact that flight data is public information. Is FlightAware.com illegal in your opinion? It shares live flight tracking for millions of flights every year and allows paid subscribers to go back throughout all recorded history.

 

[yRaz]

99/100 times when someone says can't yell fire, they end up in Bad Legal Takes social media posts.

Flight records are public records. Just because Elon happens to own that particular plane and someone is re-publishing the flight plans and/or ADS-B data does not change the fact that flight data is public information. Is FlightAware.com illegal in your opinion? It shares live flight tracking for millions of flights every year and allows paid subscribers to go back throughout all recorded history.

What I said was that it's unethical. Go find someone else to have a farcical argument with.

 

[letsgoiowa]

I think people generally have a right to privacy but I'm pretty sure flight tracking info is public for safety reasons. Where are the "IT'S A PRIVATE COMPANY" people now?

 

[emmzo]

You also can't scream fire in a movie theater. So are we going by the constitutional definition or the one set be legal precedent? It is publicly available data, but accessing it isn't exactly easy, neither is knowing what to look for. By doing this, he is making it easier for people to impulsively track and stalk Elon musk. People who might otherwise not have the knowledge or ability to do so.

While not exactly a free speech matter, there is a certain level of ethics at play here

You could get shot in the US, nothing ethical about it, cause you're a nobody, but we must fight for the billionaires right to travel anonymously. And mind you, the guy is probably more protected than Biden, so I wouldn't worry if I were you. On the other hand, as all narcissistic billionaires, he's clearly highly paranoid and thus the ban.

 

[axiomatic13]

Elon is a man-baby.

 

[Nima304]

You also can't scream fire in a movie theater. So are we going by the constitutional definition or the one set be legal precedent? It is publicly available data, but accessing it isn't exactly easy, neither is knowing what to look for. By doing this, he is making it easier for people to impulsively track and stalk Elon musk. People who might otherwise not have the knowledge or ability to do so.

While not exactly a free speech matter, there is a certain level of ethics at play here

If it were really an ethical issue, then Twitter would have taken down the accounts tracking other private jets as well. This is simply a billionaire whimsically changing his mind about a decision, and giving some BS justification as an excuse.

 

[PEnnn]

It's hilarious to see the Musk groupies defending his hissy fits and his every stupid move; because, hey, he's a republican,and republican sh*t doesn't stink.

Meanwhile, Muskie has allowed every wacko hoax peddler back on Twatter, because they don't post stuff that pi$$es him off.

Hate speech and racism are free speech, but public records that annoy Muskie are bad. Gotcha.

 

[psycros]

If it were really an ethical issue, then Twitter would have taken down the accounts tracking other private jets as well. This is simply a billionaire whimsically changing his mind about a decision, and giving some BS justification as an excuse.

And for all you know they'll do exactly that. Frankly, I'd support that move - there's no legitimate reason for anyone to be stalking anyone else. But if you disagree, by all means post your work schedule so we can follow your car back to your house.

 

[psycros]

Hate speech and racism are free speech, but public records that annoy Muskie are bad. Gotcha.

That's what the previous Twitter management believe, hence BLM and other racist terror groups were never banned. Now its different.

 

[yRaz]

You could get shot in the US, nothing ethical about it, cause you're a nobody, but we must fight for the billionaires right to travel anonymously. And mind you, the guy is probably more protected than Biden, so I wouldn't worry if I were you. On the other hand, as all narcissistic billionaires, he's clearly highly paranoid and thus the ban.

Ethics impact everyone. Shill me as you will if you wish, but you're digging your own legal grave by defending billionaires

 

[ShObiT]

Elon is a man-baby.

"It's a Private Company, and its HIS Company" - Yes, I've waited Months to say that.

Its his private jet, a Crazy leftist can go and actually attemp to kill him, so its a safety matter, its literally Stalking and calling for some Psycho to do something with that info.

 

[sreams]

I think people generally have a right to privacy but I'm pretty sure flight tracking info is public for safety reasons.

Exactly. And there is no way this account is posting the location of Elon's plane for "safety reasons". This issue really shows that the policies surrounding flight tracking might need another look.

 

[sreams]

It's hilarious to see the Musk groupies defending his hissy fits and his every stupid move; because, hey, he's a republican,and republican sh*t doesn't stink.

Meanwhile, Muskie has allowed every wacko hoax peddler back on Twatter, because they don't post stuff that pi$$es him off.

Hate speech and racism are free speech, but public records that annoy Muskie are bad. Gotcha.

He's a Republican?

 

[captaincranky]

He's a Republican?

He's a "DINO", (Democrat in name only),

 

[captaincranky]

The other jet-following accounts Sweeney runs are still operating. He suggests that those who want to follow Musk's jet do so on other platforms, including Instagram.

"It's a Private Company, and its HIS Company" - Yes, I've waited Months to say that.

Its his private jet, a Crazy leftist can go and actually attemp to kill him, so its a safety matter, its literally Stalking and calling for some Psycho to do something with that info.

It would seem he only cares about his own life. While apparently, others are still fair game to be stalked. So, yeah, Musk is looking out for the only person he cares about, himself.

I didn't have to wait months to say that, I knew it all along. The only thing you can accuse me of is that, "I have a remarkable grasp of the obvious".

 

[captaincranky]

So twitter follows its own rules as well as it always has?

"guys we're not getting enough clicks, write another MUSK article!"

"Methinks the techie doth protest too much". (With apologies to the Bard of Avon).

Oh, and apparently Twitter makes up its rules on the fly. (pun intended).

 

[GoldenGoat]

Free speech is really about being able to share your opinions and thoughts without consequences. It's not about being able to stalk people, put them at risk, or violate their privacy or other rights. Free speech covers the right to believe the world is flat for example. Your thoughts and opinions don't have to be correct, but it doesn't include the right to stalk people, violate their rights, and put them at risk. A lot of people can't seem to see that difference. Maybe Musk is starting to see it. Twitter did violate free speech by burying legit topics and banning people for opinions they didn't agree with because they wanted to manipulate public opinion. Musk was not wrong. But there are some things that aren't covered by free speech too.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

"Methinks the techie doth protest too much". (With apologies to the Bard of Avon).

Oh, and apparently Twitter makes up its rules on the fly. (pun intended).

I enjoy these twitter threads.

 

[sreams]

He's a "DINO", (Democrat in name only),

Not fulfilling somebody's expectations as a Democrat does not make one a Republican... in much the same way that many "RINOs" are not Democrats.