Featured Image Credit: jxck.sweeney/Instagram. AC NewsPhoto / Alamy.
Topics: Elon Musk, Twitter, Social Media, News
Rachel Lang
Topics: Elon Musk, Twitter, Social Media, News
A man who made headlines for tracking Elon Musk's jet online had his accounts suspended from Twitter.
The social media suspension came days after 20-year-old Jack Sweeney claimed his account that tracks the journeys made by a private jet belonging to Elon Musk was 'shadowbanned'.
For those unfamiliar with shadowbanning, it means significantly reducing access to an account without outright booting them off the platform.
Barely anyone sees the account and the content to the point that it's almost as though they have been banned.
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When Musk hinted that he was planning to buy the social media platform, Sweeney initially speculated he would cop a ban from Twitter.
Now, it appears Sweeney's fears have finally come true, as the @ElonJet Twitter page was temporarily suspended, along with his own personal Twitter account.
The 20-year-old has since lashed out at Musk for the suspension.
"This is insane, my phone's going f**king nuts,' Sweeney told The New York Post.
"He really is asking for it because it's just going to get worse in the news. [Musk is] going to be called a full-on hypocrite."
Sweeney was then asked if, in his opinion, Musk is a 'full-on hypocrite'.
He replied: "Yeah, it would seem so."
The @ElonJet Twitter account has since been reinstated, however Jack's personal page remains suspended at time of writing.
Sweeney's sledge comes more than one month after Musk vowed that he would not nix the man's Twitter account.
"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 wrote on November 7.
Well, that was short-lived.
Sweeney used publicly available data to follow the movements of the Tesla CEO's private plane as it flew around.
More than half a million people followed the account prior to its suspension, which tracks all sorts of details about the journey including the route taken, how much money would have been spent on fuel for the flight and the carbon emissions produced.
Sweeney has been in the public eye since January after he took it on himself to track the private charter flights of the likes of Kylie Jenner, as well as the Tesla CEO.
Speaking to The Guardian earlier this year, Sweeney said he initially set up the account because he was a fan of Musk – though he never imagined it would result in him entering negotiations with the man himself.
After initially being offered $5,000 to take it down, Jack tried to play hardball.
He continued: "I asked for $50,000, he said 'thinking about it', then after a while last week he said 'I don't think it's right to pay to take this down', and just the other night he blocked me.
"I asked for 50 grand, because it would be nice to help for college and I also thought it would be cool if I could buy a Tesla, you know like a Model 3 or something."