A college student’s Twitter account, known for tracking the movements of Elon Musk’s private jet, has found a new home on Meta’s recently launched Threads. Jack Sweeney, an aviation enthusiast from Florida, had his tracking operation suspended by Twitter in December, prompting him to migrate to the rival platform.
Sweeney’s first post on Threads, using the handle @elonmusksjet, quickly gained popularity, amassing over 7,700 likes and more than 200 replies. In a lighthearted jab at Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk, who was instrumental in the suspension of his account, Sweeney addressed Meta’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, asking if he would be allowed to stay.
Prior to the suspension, Sweeney had been running “bot” accounts that utilized publicly available flight information to monitor the flight paths of notable figures like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he also started tracking the flights of Russian oligarchs.
Musk’s decision to suspend Sweeney’s account was in direct contradiction to his earlier statement, where he pledged not to ban accounts that tracked his plane, citing a commitment to free speech. However, he later justified the suspension, stating that sharing real-time location information was a violation of personal safety. He accused Sweeney of supporting harm to his family and threatened legal action.
Since the launch of Meta’s Threads, the new social media platform has gained incredible traction, attracting 70 million users within the first 48 hours. In response, Twitter has threatened to sue Meta, with Musk accusing Zuckerberg of infringing upon intellectual property rights.
The migration of Sweeney’s tracking project to Threads highlights the ongoing battle between social media giants and the users who find creative ways to monitor public figures. As platforms continue to tighten their restrictions, enthusiasts like Sweeney are forced to adapt and find alternative avenues to share their projects and interests.
With Meta’s rapid user growth, it remains to be seen how the rivalry between the two platforms will unfold. In the meantime, the aviation community and followers of Elon Musk will eagerly anticipate Sweeney’s continued tracking efforts on Threads, where he can operate without the fear of suspension.