- Elon Musk stated that he will not ban the Twitter account that tracks his private plane.
- Musk offered Jack Sweeney $5,000 to take the account down.
- Sweeney thanked Musk, and told Insider that he would still be open for discussions on a new agreement to bring it down.
Elon Musk declared on Sunday that he would not ban the Twitter account tracking the travels of his private plane because of his free speech principles.
The account @ElonJetJack Sweeney (20-year-old college student) uses public air-traffic data for updates on when, where, and how long flights last. Sweeney has more than 30 jet-tracking accounts.
Musk offered Sweeney $5,000 for the account to be closed and asked for his advice on making his jet less trackable. Isobel Asher Hamilton, InsiderIn January, this was reported. Sweeney stated that he rejected the offer because he had invested a lot of time into the account and felt too fulfilled by it. He said that he would need $50,000 to surrender it. Musk made the announcement last month. appeared to begin usingSweeney suggested a new privacy program that blocks jet tracking.
Musk shared updates on his plans for Twitter since he took control of the site on October 27th. This is a TweetHe said Sunday that he would not close Sweeney’s account.
Musk wrote that “My commitment is to free speech extends even beyond not banning my account following my flight, even though it is a direct safety risk.”
Sweeney said that he was pleased Musk spoke to him in a telephone interview on Sunday, but wasn’t surprised at his decision.
Sweeney said that “I kinda figured that it was his position because if he wasn’t people wouldn’t be after him for saying something and then banning my account.” Sweeney is a Musk fan. “It’s cool to see that actually he said something and acknowledged me my account.”
Sweeney claimed that he was surprised Musk had mentioned it, and that his tweet likely attracted additional attention. He speculated that Musk might have mentioned it in order to draw attention to his account. Tesla fans have also criticised him in the past and accused him endangering the billionaire.
Sweeney said he hasn’t communicated with Musk since January — when Musk told him it didn’t feel right to pay to have the account removed — but that he’d still be open to a deal that would involve taking it down.
He also AnsweredMusk directly via a tweet. He thanked him for his support of free speech and said that “overwhelmingly my followers are supporters of your endeavors.” Sweeney He condemned the use of his account to track Musk down or look for him in person.
Musk made the decision not to ban accounts because of other reasons. TweetAfter several blue-check verified accounts tested the company’s content moderation policies, Musk announced that Twitter would “permanently suspend” accounts for impersonations.
Kathy Griffin, comedian appeared to have written the account. She changed her name and image to match Musk’s, and she tweeted: “Hey complainers und activists. Do you want to see true activism? This is real activism. RT with #VoteBlue Other accounts appear to be Musk’s name was taken and you are now a Muskie. TweetingThings like “my wife left” and “There is nothing more than waking up to a steaming cup of my urine.”
Musk stated, “Any Twitter handle engaging in impersonation of another person without clearly indicating ‘parody’ will permanently be suspended.” The warning was added to the fact that users had been issued warnings before being suspended.
Twitter declined to respond to a request for comment or make a decision about suspending the accounts for impersonations.
