The college student who became notorious for tracking celebrity private jets and posting their whereabouts on social media claims all of his jet-tracking accounts on Instagram and Threads were suspended by Meta this week.
Jack Sweeney, a student at the University of Central Florida, posted a statement to his personal social media accounts on Tuesday in which he said all of his jet-tracking accounts, including @elonmusksjet and @zuckerbertjet following the social media CEOs' travels, had been suspended unexpectedly.
“Unlike previous suspensions, where warnings or status updates were provided along with reasons, this time the account simply appears blacked out with no options to interact or receive information,” Sweeney said.
He noted that his @taylorswiftjets account on Instagram, which tracked Taylor Swift’s movements on her private jets, still displays a warning and reasoning for suspension. The account was removed after Swift’s attorney sent Sweeney a cease-and-desist order last year over the tracking claiming it put the pop star’s safety at risk and enabled stalking.
RELATED STORY | Taylor Swift issues cease-and-desist to student tracking her jet
Nevertheless, Sweeney has maintained that the information he posts on the jet-tracking accounts is already public.
Sweeney said he first noticed an issue with his @elonmusksjet account on Instagram and Threads. Throughout the day, all 38 of his accounts across multiple platforms including @celebrityjets, @kimkjet, @kyliejennerjet and @bezosjet were suspended.
Sweeney claimed the only accounts that weren’t suspended were @desantisjet and @trump_jets until a news outlet pointed out they were untouched. The accounts were then also suspended.
“These platforms don’t care about transparency," Sweeney said in his statement. "They selectively enforce their rules, allowing some users to stay while others are shut down without reason.”
He said he has reached out to Meta for answers but has not received a reply or an explanation.
Meta reportedly provided a statement to the outlet TechCrunch which said, “Given the risk of physical harm to individuals, and in keeping with the independent Oversight Board’s recommendation, we’ve disabled these accounts for violating our privacy policy.”
