Meta suspends accounts tracking private jets of celebrities like Musk, Zuckerberg, and more
Florida student Jack Sweeney, who runs many of these accounts, confirms the shutdown.
Meta told TechCrunch that these accounts broke its privacy rules because the people who owned them were at “risk of physical harm.”
It was impossible to follow the flights of former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and other celebrities on Instagram or Threads on Monday night because of an error message that said, “The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed.” Sweeney’s account, following Taylor Swift’s jet, was shut down on Friday.
Meta told TechCrunch in an email that these accounts had been stopped because they broke their privacy policy and there was a risk of physical harm to people. This was also what the independent Oversight Board had suggested.
Sweeney wrote on his account, “Today feels like December 15, 2022.” He was referring to the date that Elon Musk deleted his @ElonJet Twitter account for good.
United States President Joe Biden signed a May bill letting private plane owners hide their registration information. Sweeney has said, though, that it is still easy to keep an eye on famous people, even with help from other flight-tracking fans.