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Summary

Elon Musk Suspended The Guy Tracking His Jet On Twitter & So Much For 'Free Speech'

Musk previously said he wouldn't ban the account.

Jack Sweeney next to a plane. Right: A photo of Elon Musk on his Twitter account.

Jack Sweeney next to a plane. Right: A photo of Elon Musk on his Twitter account.

Senior Writer

It looks like Elon Musk has gone back on his word after suspending the Twitter account that tracks his private jet.

@ElonJet, a Twitter account that uses public data to report the movements of Musk's personal plane, was suspended on Wednesday morning, just over a month after Musk said he was leaving it up for "free speech" purposes.

My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk," he wrote on November 6.

Other Twitter users have since added context to that tweet, pointing out that @ElonJet has been suspended.

Jack Sweeney, the guy who runs the account, confirmed that it had been suspended on Wednesday morning.

Sweeney, a Florida college student, began tracking the SpaceX and Tesla CEO's plane location in 2020 through his @ElonJet account using flight data that was publicly available.

Musk clearly didn't like being tracked and he reportedly offered to pay Sweeney $5,000 to delete the account.

"I don't love the idea of being shot by a nutcase," Musk said to Sweeney, according to the Guardian.

Sweeney counter-offered with a $50,000 price tag and later said he would do it for free in exchange for a free internship at Tesla.

That didn't end up going anywhere, and Musk later bought Twitter in a $44 billion takeover.

After his takeover, Musk hinted at possibly taking down Sweeney's plane-tracking account, but the 20 year old didn't seem concerned.

He said if Musk ever tried it, "it would be all over the news" and the move would backfire.

It was all over the news on Wednesday, with many calling out Musk for failing to stick to his "free speech" claims.

Another Twitter user said Musk's old Tweet "aged like milk."

Narcity has reached out to Sweeney for a comment on the @ElonJet account suspension, but we did not hear back by the time the story was published. Musk also did not comment about it on Twitter.

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    • Senior Writer

      Asymina Kantorowicz (she/her) was a Senior Writer for Narcity Media. She has worked at Yahoo Canada, CTV News Vancouver Island, CTV News Channel, and CHCH News. Over the past eight years, she took on various newsroom roles and helped produce award-winning newscasts. Loving the fast-paced environment of any newsroom, she helped cover stories like the 2016 royal visit to Victoria, the 2019 B.C. manhunt, and provincial elections. She had an MA in journalism and a BA in media from Western University. She moved from Toronto to Victoria a few years ago and loved being close to the ocean.

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