Twitter Suspends Account Tracking Musk's Jet

Facts

• The Twitter account @Elonjet, which was dedicated to tracking Elon Musk’s private jet, was suspended from the platform on Wednesday.
• The account was run by college student Jack Sweeney who operates over 30 accounts tracking the private jets of figures including Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, and celebrities. Those accounts were also reportedly disabled hours after @Elonjet.
• Twitter suspended all of Sweeney’s tracking accounts along with his personal account as Twitter cited rules prohibiting the live sharing of other users' locations.
• In a Nov. 6 tweet, Musk stated that he would not ban the account because of his commitment to free speech. However, after a car carrying his son was allegedly attacked by a “crazy stalker,” Musk ruled that sharing location information is a risk to physical safety.
• Musk tweeted, “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation.” “Doxxing” is disclosing personal details —such as personal address or identity — about another person on the internet.
• Musk stated that he is suing Sweeney and other organizations who support harm to his family. Sweeney asserted that he was simply exercising his right to free speech on Twitter.

Sources: Business Insider, Reuters, Associated Press, and News Nation.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Vanity Fair. Elon Musk is already going back on his commitment to stand for "free speech" and is arbitrarily changing Twitter rules in a clear display of hypocrisy. The billionaire is now threatening legal action against a 20-year-old college student for posting publicly available information. "Free speech" only applies when it benefits the tech mogul.
• Right narrative, as provided by Breitbart. Social media platforms prohibiting accounts to post personal information and live locations of others is not banning "free speech." Twitter's new policies and Musk's statements convey that this was a safety and terms of service violation. Besides, right before his account was disabled, Sweeney promoted his flight trackers on other platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Mastadon, so his "speech" is far from banned.