Meta, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, has suspended Instagram and Threads accounts that track private celebrity jets, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Jeff Bezos, and former U.S. President Donald Trump, according to TechCrunch.
Accounts tracking private jets of ordinary individuals using legal tools to identify flight timings and destinations. Student Jack Sweeney, studying at the University of Florida, owns several of these accounts and announced on his Threads account that Meta has suspended all his accounts.
In this context, a Meta spokesperson, unnamed, stated, “Due to the physical harm risk to individuals and in line with the independent oversight board’s recommendation, we have disabled these accounts for violating our privacy policy,” according to TechCrunch.
On Monday morning, an error message appeared on links leading to Instagram and Threads accounts tracking celebrity jets, stating, “Sorry, this page is not available, the link you followed may be broken or the page may have been removed.”
Sweeney posted on his personal account, “Today feels like December 15, 2022,” referring to the time Elon Musk permanently suspended his @ElonJet account from Twitter.
Also, the account tracking singer Taylor Swift’s plane was disabled after she threatened legal action against Sweeney in February unless he stopped stalking and harassing behavior.
Sweeney stated that at least 38 of his accounts were suspended across different platforms like X and Threads, noting that he had endured such bitter experiences before.
In May, President Joe Biden signed a bill allowing owners of private jets to conceal their registration information. However, Sweeney confirmed that tracking prominent individuals’ planes is still possible through tips and guidance from amateur private jet trackers.
