Twitter decided to suspend a profile on the social network that followed Musk’s private jet in real-time. At the same time, the billionaire threatens to sue the account operator because he followed and severely harassed his son. “Last night someone crazy, who probably thought it was me, followed a car that was driving my son. Later he also got on the hood and stopped the car from going,” Musk said.
The suspension of the account comes only a month after Musk said that his commitment is to the freedom of expression of Twitter users and he does not intend to suspend profiles: “Even for a profile that follows my plane, even though it is a direct risk to my personal security.”
Yesterday he already changed: “Any profile that displays information about someone’s real-time location will be suspended because it is a personal risk.”
On the other hand, Musk said that “posting someone’s location a little late is not a safety issue, so it’s fine.”
The profile called ElonJet was started by Jack Sweeney, a 20-year-old student, who tracked the movements of the Twitter owners’ private jet using data available from the Public Aviation Authority. Sweeney’s personal profile was also suspended.
Sweeney, who also operates similar profiles to track Musk’s plane on Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram, told the media that his suspension was “a surprise to a lot of people because Musk has publicly said he won’t do it. It just shows that he can play by the rules however he wants, and for whoever he wants “.
On Saturday, Sweeney tweeted that Ella Irwin, Twitter’s vice president of safety, had demanded that the account be made less visible to users of the social network. In previous interviews, the student claimed that he rejected an offer of $5,000 from Musk to close the profile.
At the same time as the account that tracked Musk’s plane, similar accounts that tracked the planes of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates were also suspended.