Accounts on Instagram and Threads that were dedicated to monitoring the private jet travels of various celebrities, including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Kylie Jenner, were recently suspended. The accounts were managed by Jack Sweeney, a college student from Florida. Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Threads, commented that the suspensions were due to violations of its privacy policies, specifically pointing to the potential “risk of physical harm” these accounts could pose to the individuals being tracked.
Attempts to access the Instagram/Threads accounts that followed the flights of notable figures such as former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as well as other celebrities, resulted in an error message on Monday evening, indicating either a broken link or the removal of the page. Additionally, Sweeney’s account that tracked Taylor Swift’s jet was disabled the previous Friday.
A Meta spokesperson explained in a statement that the decision to disable these accounts was made in light of the possible danger to the individuals’ safety and was consistent with the recommendations of the independent Oversight Board. Jack Sweeney commented on the situation through his personal account, drawing a parallel to December 15, 2022, when his @ElonJet account was permanently banned from Twitter by Elon Musk.
Despite a bill signed by U.S. President Joe Biden in May, which allows private aircraft owners to keep their registration details confidential, Sweeney has indicated that tracking the movements of high-profile individuals remains feasible. He mentioned that he can still gather information through collaboration with other flight-tracking enthusiasts.
