Jet-chasing accounts of celebrities like Elon Musk suddenly disappear from Instagram and Threads
It was discovered that Instagram and Threads accounts tracking the private jets of celebrities such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Kim Kardashian were deleted en masse on October 21, 2024. Meta, which operates Instagram and Threads, explained that it closed the accounts due to violations of its privacy policy.
Meta suspends accounts tracking private jets of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and other celebrities | TechCrunch
Celebrity jet-tracking accounts disappear from Threads and Instagram - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276546/meta-threads-instagram-elonjet-celebrity-jet-tracking-suspended
The account in question is a similar account set up by Jack Sweeney, a college student known for the Twitter (now X) account '@ElonJet' that tracks Elon Musk's private jet, on Meta's Instagram and Threads.
X's @ElonJet account was disabled on December 15, 2022, leaving only the 24-hour delayed ' ElonJet but Delayed (@ElonJetNextDay) ' account, but Sweeney continued his activities by moving his base to Threads, a competing service of X.
An account tracking the location of Elon Musk's private jet is back on Threads - GIGAZINE
However, among the many accounts Sweeney has on various social media, his Instagram and Threads accounts were deleted all at once. For example, when accessing '@elonmusksjet' on Threads, which tracked Musk's jet, at the time of writing, the only thing displayed was 'This page is not available.'
'The only accounts left are those for politicians. It's very strange,' Sweeney wrote on Threads. He said he had not received any notice or warning about the deletion.
Posted by: @jacksweeneyView on Threads
When asked about the mass deletion of jet-chasing accounts, a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch, 'Given the risk of physical harm to individuals, and following the recommendations of our independent oversight committee, we disabled these accounts for violating our privacy policy.'
Prior to this deletion, an account tracking Taylor Swift's private jet had also voluntarily shut down in February 2024 after Sweeney was warned that legal action would be taken if he did not stop stalking and harassing her.
Sweeney revealed that a total of 38 accounts he had on platforms such as X and Threads have been suspended so far, saying, 'Today feels like December 15, 2022.'
US President Joe Biden signed a law in May 2024 aimed at strengthening safety protections for passenger aircraft users. This allows private aircraft owners to anonymize their registration information, but Sweeney told the media, 'It's still easy to track celebrities by using tips from other tracking enthusiasts.'
