Why Musk Banned ElonJet Account: New Twitter Rules Explained
Although Elon Musk said he would not delete the Twitter account that shared the location of his private jet, the ElonJet account has been suspended. The ban comes as the social media company implements new security terms.
Twitter bans ElonJet and introduces new security terms
Screenshots of the banned ElonJet account, along with news of the ban, circulated on Twitter shortly before the company announced its new terms. The changes were announced on December 14.
The new terms mean you can’t share a person’s live location in most cases. Twitter explains this with the risk of harming physical integrity. As a result, the company will suspend accounts that share this information. The ElonJet account, as well as founder Jack Sweeney’s personal account, have been banned from Twitter.
This is despite Mr Musk saying he would not ban the account in November 2022 as part of his commitment to free speech. Musk’s tweet now has a community note: “The account referred to in this tweet is a currently banned elongate.”
The memo added: “Elongjet previously used publicly available aircraft tracking data to track the airports where Musk’s private jet flew. »
Why did Twitter ban the ElonJet account?
What has changed? According to Musk, the day before, someone followed him thinking he was in the car. They would block the car and put it on the hood. Musk’s son was in the car, but not Musk himself.
Musk did not say whether the person used the ElonJet account, but said he was taking legal action against Sweeney and other organizations.
Apparently, this event coincided with the publication of changes in Twitter’s policy. Website new twitter terms allows you to share location information for historical or public tasks and events, rather than location information for travel routes. As with flight route information, the fact that this information may be public does not protect you from being banned from Twitter.
The updated terms state, among other things, that the following personal information cannot be shared on Twitter without the consent of the person concerned:
“Live location information, including information shared directly on Twitter or links to third-party URLs of travel destinations, actual physical location, or other identifying information that identifies an individual’s whereabouts, whether or not that information is publicly available. »
According to New York Times reporter Ryan Mack, about 30 accounts controlled by Sweeney have been banned. Some of those accounts tracked the use of private jets by other billionaires, but others included government agencies and Russian oligarchs, The New York Times reported.
The decision has drawn criticism, especially in light of Twitter’s amnesty for previously suspended accounts and Musk’s previous commitments to free speech that are not illegal.
Twitter’s terms and conditions now prohibit the tracking of airplanes
The new terms prohibit others from creating bots that track the air routes of public figures, even though that information is publicly available. This will likely prevent copycats from creating new accounts that perform the same function.
However, the ban also drew criticism from Musk for the seemingly deliberate nature of the change in terms.
