A Twitter account that tracks the publicly available location data on the private jet of Elon Musk has been a hot topic in 2022. Musk previously offered money to shut down the account. Here’s the latest update on the Elon Jet tracker.
What Happened: Musk recently completed the acquisition of social media platform Twitter, which gives him the ability to ban and unban whatever accounts he wants. Musk paid $44 billion to acquire Twitter and has already made major changes to the company.
While he has welcomed back previously banned accounts, including that of former President Donald Trump, Musk could also be banning accounts that don’t fit well with his narrative.
Jack Sweeney, who created the ElonJet account on Twitter, announced Wednesday that the account had been suspended or deleted.
The move comes days after Sweeney said the account had been shadow banned.
“Internal messages obtained by an anonymous Twitter employee explained to me that on ‘Dec 2 2022 your account @elonjet was visibility limited/restricted to a severe degree internally,’” Sweeney said.
Sweeney also shared screenshots from internal Twitter employees calling for the account to be limited in visibility on the platform.
The account was later un-shadow banned, and Sweeney said the pressure from his public call-outs may have helped.
The shutting down of the account is interesting as it comes with Musk calling for freedom of speech and people to be unbanned on the social media platform. In November, Musk even stated publicly that he would not ban the ElonJet account.
“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 on Nov. 6.
Related Link: Teen Says He's Ready To Stop Tracking Musk's Private Jet On One Condition And It's Not Money
Why It’s Important: Musk previously offered $5,000 to Sweeney to take down the ElonJet Twitter account due to safety risks.
Sweeney counter-offered that he would take $50,000 from Musk, having previously asked for a flight on the jet, a Tesla vehicle and an internship at the electric vehicle company.
A jet tracker for Mark Cuban run by Sweeney was previously shut down. Like Musk, Cuban told Sweeney that having the account public was a safety risk to him and his family.
“Are you not concerned about safety issues with tracking jets?” Cuban asked. “Not everyone on this platform is stable.”
The duo reached a deal to take down the account, with Sweeney getting business support and advice for his lifetime.
“By ending this you have me as a friend for life,” Cuban said.
Sweeney’s personal Twitter account remains unbanned. Sweeney also has links to the jet trackers on various other social media platforms.
The question some users on Twitter are asking Wednesday is whether Musk really paid $44 billion to shut down the ElonJet tracker?
Photo: Courtesy of Dunk on flickr.
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