Jack Sweeney, the creator of the previously banned Twitter account that tracked Elon Musk’s private jet, has relaunched his project on Threads, Mark Zuckerberg’s rival platform. Some consider the move a subtle dig at Musk, the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” who banned the account after promising not to.
The Verge reports that the person behind the previously suspended Twitter account that tracked Elon Musk’s private plane, Jack Sweeney, has relaunched his project on Threads, the newly launched platform from Facebook (now known as Meta).
Elon Musk examines cracked Cybertruck windows (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP)
Sweeney’s new account, aptly named @elonmusksjet, has already amassed a following of 80,000 users on Threads since its launch. The account provides real-time tracking of the movements of Elon Musk’s personal jet, a feature that had previously led to its ban on Twitter.
“ElonJet has arrived to Threads!” Sweeney announced on the new @elonmusksjet account. The move marks a significant shift in the ongoing saga of Sweeney’s tracking projects, which have been a source of controversy due to privacy concerns.
Musk had previously suspended the @ElonJet Twitter account in December of last year, citing it as a “direct personal safety risk,” shortly after previously calling the account “free speech.” Despite this, Sweeney has continued his tracking efforts, albeit with a 24-hour delay on Twitter.
Sweeney’s tracking projects are not limited to Musk. He has also been monitoring the movements of other high-profile individuals, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Sweeney directly addressed Zuckerberg in his second post on the @elonmusksjet Threads account, asking if he could remain on the platform.
The tracking accounts, which Sweeney refers to as “bot” accounts, pull together publicly available air travel data to chart the locations of the aircraft. In addition to Musk and Zuckerberg, Sweeney has trackers for the private jets of Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, and Kim Kardashian.
The move to Threads could potentially escalate tensions between Twitter and Facebook. Twitter has already threatened to sue Facebook, alleging that Threads was created using Twitter’s trade secrets and intellectual property.
In an intensifying war of words, Musk recently tweeted that “Zuck is a cuck” and challenged his fellow billionaire tech titan to a “literal dick measuring contest.”
Read more at the Verge here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan