Twitter suspends UCF student’s account tracking Elon Musk’s plane

A Twitter account created by a University of Central Florida student that tweeted the flight patterns of Elon Musk’s private jet was suspended from the platform Wednesday — along with the student’s personal account — though the automated account reappeared hours later.

As of Wednesday morning, visitors to @ElonJet found only the account’s handle and a message stating that it had been suspended. “Twitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules,” was the explanation given. The account resurfaced in the early evening.

UCF student Jack Sweeney created the account in 2020 and it amassed a large following of those interested in the travels of Musk, who owns Twitter and also runs the spaceflight company SpaceX and automaker Tesla.

The suspension Wednesday of @ElonJet and other accounts associated with Sweeney set off a firestorm on Twitter, while the site and its mercurial owner gave little explanation.

“Real-time posting of someone else’s location violates doxxing policy, but delayed posting of locations are ok,” Musk tweeted in reply to a user at 5 p.m., around the time @ElonJet resurfaced. Doxxing refers to maliciously posting a person’s private or identifying information.

Musk’s tweet didn’t specify how long of a delay the policy requires.

“Wait Hello? How long does delay mean @elonmusk,” the @ElonJet account posted about 6:15 p.m. “hour? we need some well defined rules.”

Musk bought Twitter in October. His tenure has been tumultuous, with him laying off thousands of workers and revamping features only to walk back the changes in hours or days — and spurring major advertisers to flee the site.

Musk has long been aware of @ElonJet, having at one point offered Sweeney $5,000 to take down the account — and blocking him when the then-19-year-old rejected the offer.

In a May interview, after Musk made his initial offer to buy Twitter, Sweeney said he wasn’t worried about Musk shutting him down.

“I think it will do good for the platform,” he said. “He wants to get rid of spam, make it more transparent. He likes to listen to customers and try to make things better. I think it’s good for Twitter.”

Musk, for his part, last month cited his tolerance of the account — without tagging or naming it — as evidence of his commitment to free speech.

“My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,” Musk posted Nov. 6.

Over the weekend, Sweeney in a series of tweets alleged @ElonJet was being “shadow banned,” meaning that Twitter was intentionally reducing its visibility on the site and making it harder to seek out.

On Wednesday, he posted a screenshot of a notification indicating the account had been “permanently suspended.” “After careful review, we determined your account broke the Twitter rules,” the message said.

By the afternoon, Sweeney’s personal account had also been suspended.

ElonJet is still active on platforms not owned by Musk, including Facebook and Instagram.

jeweiner@orlandosentinel.com