Twitter suspends account sharing Tesla boss Elon Musk’s flight data

An online account which tracked the private jet of Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been suspended – one month after the social media platform’s new owner said he would not silence the user.

In 2020, then-18-year-old US programmer Jack Sweeney set up a Twitter account (username @ElonJet) which posted real-time flight data from Mr Musk’s private jet, using publicly available information from sources such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

Last month, shortly after buying Twitter for $US44 billion ($AU64.35 billion), the Tesla CEO posted on the social media platform: "My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk". 

Despite this claim, Mr Musk’s social media platform has now suspended the ‘ElonJet’ and Mr Sweeney’s personal accounts, claiming they violate the social media platform’s rules – though it has not offered an explanation as to what specific rules have been broken.

Mr Musk responded to queries about Twitter’s decision to suspend the accounts by posting on the social media platform. 

“Any account doxxing (uploading) real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation,” Mr Musk posted on Twitter. 

“This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info. Posting locations someone travelled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok.”

Mr Musk had previously offered Mr Sweeney $US5000 ($AU7300) to stop posting his flight information on the ‘ElonJet’ account in January 2022, reportedly sending a message to the teenager which read: “I don’t love the idea of being shot by a nutcase”.

Shortly before it was suspended, the ‘ElonJet’ account had amassed more than 525,000 followers.

Mr Sweeney had also set up accounts which tracked the flights of high-profile figures such as Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Russian President Vladimir Putin. All of these accounts have now been suspended.