The college student behind a now-suspended Twitter account that followed Elon Musk’s private plane activities. Jack Sweeney, claims the billionaire’s decision to restrict his account is a “control problem.”
Musk threatened Sweeney with legal action on Wednesday, but Sweeney told NewsNation’s Leland Vittert that he has yet to hear from Musk or his counsel.
“To be honest, I think he’s simply putting on a bluff,” Sweeney said Vittert.
Sweeney is adamant that he should be able to follow the jet’s movements.
“It’s already public knowledge, so I should be entitle to distribute it. “It’s the free speech he promised a month ago,” Sweeney remarked, later adding, “I actually think it’s more of a control issue with people knowing where he is and what he’s doing than a safety concern.”
Why is Twitter’s CEO threatening a 20-year-old college student with a lawsuit? Let us review.
Before Musk took over Twitter, he urged Sweeney in February to delete the account that had been created more than a year before. The account followed Musk’s private jet’s take-offs and landings. Sweeney didn’t only follow Musk’s plane; he also had accounts tracking other notable persons such as Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.
Sweeney has refused to delete the account, claiming that the information he is distributing is public.
“This account has every right to publish jet locations, ADS-B data is public, every aircraft in the world is supposed to have a transponder, Even AF1 (Air Force Track) Twitter rules specifies info found on other sites is permitted to be shared here as well,” wrote the “ElonJet” account on Jan. 18.
In October, Musk completes a $44 billion bid to acquire Twitter. He has questioned the social media platform’s attitude on free speech, which appears to be one of his primary concerns.
Musk stated in November that he would retain the account following his plane to demonstrate his dedication to free speech “My commitment to free expression goes even to not disabling the account that follows my plane, despite the fact that it poses a clear personal safety risk,” Musk said in a tweet on November 6.
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Sweeney claims that on December 2, Twitter disabled the visibility of the ElonJet account. When this was reveal this week, the account’s limitations were relaxe.
Sweeney appeared on NewsNation on Tuesday, essentially challenging Musk.
“I’m the only one who can prove if he’s going to conduct total, full free speech on Twitter,” Sweeney told Vittert on Tuesday.
The ElonJet account was suspended the next day, allegedly due to threats to Musk’s personal safety. Sweeney claims it was unsuspended and then reinstated. Musk alleges a stalker followed a car transporting his kid, mistaking Musk for the driver. “Last night, automobile transporting baby X in LA was followed by crazed stalker (thinking it was me), who later halted car from driving & got onto hood. “Legal action is being initiated against Sweeney and groups that supported the damage to my family,” Musk said in a tweet Wednesday evening.
The Twitter Safety account said shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday that the social media platform’s private information policy has been revised to ban publishing someone else’s live location in “most circumstances.” “There is an elevated danger of physical damage when someone reveals an individual’s live location on Twitter. “We’ll delete Tweets that publish this information in the future, and accounts devoted to broadcasting someone else’s live location will be suspended,” the Twitter Safety account said.
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Doxxing is the practise of publicly disclosing someone’s private information, such as their address or identity, online. Twitter’s Help Center explains that while assessing allegations of doxxing under its policy, the business analyses four critical questions:
– What kind of information is being disseminate?
– Who is disseminating the information?
– Is the data available elsewhere on the internet?
– What is the purpose of sharing the information?
According to Leland Vittert, Musk’s actions demonstrate where the Twitter CEO stands on free speech suppression: “Well, it wasn’t too difficult. We now know where Elon Musk draws the line in terms of free speech when it comes to people discussing his private Gulfstream plane. That’s the deal.”
So, what comes next?
Sweeney stated that he is waiting to see “if Musk is serious or not.”
Sweeney stated that if he could speak with Musk, he would say. “I think we could sort this out a lot better by talking. It out rather than making each other appear terrible in any manner.”
In the video player above, you can see the whole exchange between Sweeney and NewsNation anchor Leland Vittert.
