I then learned that every single one of my 30 Twitter accounts had been permanently suspended. Not just the ones that tracked the locations of celebrity jets, like those belonging to Jeff Bezos and Trump, but even ones that tracked the weather or NASA planes. My personal account was banned, too.
I received an email that said my accounts had been suspended due to platform manipulation and spam.There was no warning. I’d not had contact from Musk since last January, when I turned down his offer to buy the ElonJet account.
I was surprised that Twitter suspended the ElonJet account, especially after Musk said in November that he wouldn’t do that. He had tweeted: “My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk.” Now he’s going against his word.
Why I am surprised that Elon Musk banned ElonJet
I didn’t think my account would be banned because Musk calls himself a “free speech absolutist” and I used the platform for what he claims it’s for: free speech.
I didn’t think it would look good for him to ban my account and, already, I’ve seen people screenshotting that previous tweet he put out and saying things like, “So much for Free Speech Twitter.”
Twitter, under Musk, has unbanned a lot of controversial people. It seems to me like Musk wants anything and everything on Twitter, unless it’s against him.
But I wasn’t trying to do any harm with the ElonJet account. It started out because I was a fan of Tesla and SpaceX. Then, at some point, I became aware Musk had a jet and I started tracking it personally, until some people online told me, “You should bring it to Twitter.”
I’m still a fan of Musk’s ventures, but I don’t know that I agree with some of the choices that he is making on Twitter now.
I appealed to have ElonJet reinstated on December 14 and it was temporarily unbanned. Twitter said tracking apps would be allowed if you posted the data on a 24-hour delay, and I was happy to do that. But within an hour or two, I was suspended again.
Musk had tweeted that, “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation.” But I don’t think my account specifically is putting his safety at risk. I’m in the middle here: the data comes from a public source, and then I post it on Twitter.
At the end of the day, Musk took the responsibility for accepting that privacy risk a month ago, when he tweeted that he would not ban my account. He could have shut it down in November, but he let it stay up. Now, he’s flipped on that.
Elon Musk’s potential lawsuit
I saw Musk’s tweet today, seeming to threaten legal action against me. He wrote: “Last night, car carrying lil X in LA was followed by crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked car from moving & climbed onto hood. Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.”
I certainly never expected him to tweet that, especially as he appears to refer to me by name as “Sweeney” in the tweet. It made me wonder if he’s trying to scare or intimidate me.
I don’t think my ElonJet account could have led a “crazy stalker” to his car. First off, the last tweet put out by my account was way earlier, 24 hours before, so on a completely different day. And then there’s the fact it was his car. I’m tracking his plane, not the car, so I don’t see how it could be connected.
I don’t know if I feel intimidated. I guess I am slightly, but I’ll just have to see what happens. To me, there doesn’t seem to be any legal ground for a lawsuit. I’m just posting information that’s already out there.
Taking ElonJet to different social media platforms
Now, in hindsight, I honestly don’t care that ElonJet has been taken off Twitter. I don’t have to follow Musk’s rules on other platforms, and I don’t have to worry about him watching my account.
I set up a Mastodon account yesterday, and I already had accounts on Facebook, Truth Social, Instagram and Telegram. Twitter was my core platform, as I had 500,000 followers, but my accounts are gaining speed on other platforms. Mastodon already has over 20,000, and my Instagram following doubled in a day to 30,000 followers.
I feel that people on these platforms are supporting me, and that’s nice to see. I’ve had messages from people like, “Glad you’re somewhere else and I can follow you on here.”
This experience has motivated me, if anything. I’ve been wanting to build my own website and this is just another reason to accelerate that. The website would basically be all of my accounts—not just ElonJet—with a lot more features, like a map, historical data, and stats. I’m planning to work on that over break, as I’ve just finished for Christmas at University of Central Florida, where I’m a sophomore.
I might appeal again in the future for my Twitter account to be reinstated, but it depends on what happens with this legal stuff. I don’t know if Musk’s claim about a lawsuit is true, but it’s probably best to be careful. I don’t want to poke the bear any more.
Even so, I will continue tracking Musk’s jet, even if it is on different platforms. If I give up now, it’s kind of like letting the big guy win.
Jack Sweeney, 20, is a sophomore from the University of Central Florida. He manages the ElonJet account on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media channels.
All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
As told to Newsweek’s My Turn deputy editor Katie Russell.
