Twitter suspends bot account tracking Elon Musk's jet
- Twitter blocks the bot that was following Elon Musk's private plane.
- Accounts monitored the movements of Musk's personal aircraft.
- Elon Musk declared his dedication to free expression in November.
The Elon Musk-founded Twitter platform has suspended a bot account that was following Elon Musk's personal aircraft, according to Jack Sweeney, the account's operator.
Using information that was freely available, the Twitter account monitored the movements of Musk's private aircraft.
Sweeney's Twitter account was also suspended later in the day.
In a tweet from November, Musk claimed that, despite the clear risk to his safety, his commitment to free expression "extends even to not blocking the account tracking my plane."
Sweeney, a 20-year-old University of Central Florida student who also runs similar bot accounts tracking Musk's jet on Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram, tweeted on Saturday that Ella Irwin, Twitter's vice president of trust and safety, had asked that the account be filtered and made less obvious to users. Sweeney also operates similar bot accounts tracking Musk's jet on Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram.
Requests for comment from Reuters were not immediately answered by Sweeney or Twitter.
In prior appearances with the media, Sweeney claimed he declined Musk's offer of $5,000 in 2021 to terminate the bot account.
Additionally, Twitter accounts that followed the private jets of billionaire computer titans Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg have been shut down.
