Twitter has suspended an account that tracked CEO Elon Musk’s private jet — just one month after Musk himself said he’d allow the account to stay put.
Wednesday morning, the account, @elonjet — which had amassed more than half a million followers — was listed as suspended for having violated unspecified Twitter rules.
The account was created by 20-year-old Jack Sweeney, a Florida college student.
“Well it appears @ElonJet is suspended,” Sweeney tweeted Wednesday.
Musk could not be reached for comment, and has not responded to inquiries on Twitter about the suspension. Last month, he tweeted he’d allow the account to continue even at the risk of his own personal safety.
Other social media accounts created by Sweeney tracking Musk’s jet, including ones on Instagram and Telegram, remain active.
In most cases, specialized receivers are able to track any aircraft’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) address when the aircraft is in flight. A community of users of these receivers has formed to track aircraft across the world.
Sweeney told CNBC he started the Twitter account in June 2020 because he was a fan of Musk’s work at the business mogul’s Tesla and SpaceX companies.
“Even now, my dream car is definitely a Tesla,” Sweeney said.
He also told CNBC that Musk had previously offered to pay him $5,000 to take down the account because it was a safety risk.
“Eventually, the last message from him was ‘It doesn’t feel right to take this down,’” Sweeney said.
Even as Musk has touted his commitment to free speech since acquiring Twitter for $44 billion in October, including reinstating accounts associated with the Q-anon movement and other far-right accounts. Yet internally, he’s removed critics of his policies from the company.
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