Social media accounts that track flights of celebrities and business figures, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk have been suspended on Threads and Instagram, two platforms owned by Meta Platforms Inc. META. The accounts had previously been banned on X since Musk bought the platform.
What Happened: Jack Sweeney, best known for launching a jet tracking account of Musk's flights on X, shared Tuesday that he had 38 accounts that track various figures suspended on Threads and Instagram without warning.
"Today brings a sense of déjà vu," Sweeney said in the letter.
Sweeney questioned Meta's rules and transparency as he hadn't changed anything and the accounts were previously okay to operate.
"What makes this more troubling is that I've received no communication from Meta — no warnings, no explanation. Reporters have reached out to Meta for clarification, but so far, there's been silence. This situation reflects poorly on Meta."
The recent suspensions come after Sweeney had a Taylor Swift jet tracker account suspended 10 months ago, but others remained and operated "just fine."
Sweeney went on to question Meta's oversight system in his letter.
"I can't even appeal these suspensions through Meta's Oversight Board. This lack of transparency makes Meta's actions even more concerning."
The jet tracker questioned in his letter the timing of accounts being shut down.
"I'm still unsure if this decision came directly from Meta or not, but it's worth noting that, just yesterday, Elon Musk supporters were vocal about the suspension of @taylorswiftjets while @elonmuskjets remained active."
In another X post, Sweeney questioned why "tracking public info can be so controversial" and how he hadn't violated the rules from Meta in past years.
"Suddenly they care about something they haven't for years?"
Among the suspended accounts include flight tracking on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian.
An account that shares information on Musk's flights a day later and abides by new X rules remains active on the platform.
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Why It's Important: Sweeney previously clashed with Musk after his X account shared flight details of the billionaire. After previously promising to keep the account active, Musk shut it down after acquiring X, which was then known as Twitter.
"Ironically, Elon Musk, who once criticized Twitter for its lack of free speech, is now using the very same techniques — shadow-banning jet-tracking account and blocking links to public information that tracks his jet. It's just a different form of suppression, rather than outright bans," Sweeney said Tuesday.
Meta said the decision came from its Oversight Board, based on a recommendation from early 2022, according to a report from Bloomberg. The recommendation was to remove "private residential information" from the site even if publicly available.
"Given the risk of physical harm to individuals, and in keeping with the independent Oversight Board's recommendation, we've disabled these accounts for violating our privacy policy," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement, Bloomberg reported.
Musk previously called Sweeney "an awful human being" when Swift and her team threatened legal action against the account creator.
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Photo: Elon Musk via Shutterstock
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