Meta has taken action against accounts that track private jets, including those following celebrities and notable figures. The jet-tracking bot was also shut down on Instagram and Threads which Meta owns.

Among the accounts affected was one tracking the movements of Meta’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

Tech Crunch reports that the account bans make it harder to keep tabs on celebrity travels, as well as, their environmental impact, such as carbon emissions.

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Jet Tracking Accounts Suspended

Jack Sweeney, a college student in his early twenties, ran several accounts dedicated to tracking the real-time flight paths of private jets belonging to celebrities. 

His tracking service, which relied on public data, operated across various platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Truth Social, Mastodon, Threads, and X (formerly Twitter).

Sweeney confirmed that his jet-tracking accounts were shut down. This marks yet another instance of Sweeney facing resistance over his jet-tracking activities.

Meta released a statement explaining its decision: "Given the risk of physical harm to individuals, and in keeping with the independent Oversight Board’s recommendation, we’ve disabled these accounts for violating our privacy policy." 

High-profile individuals, such as Taylor Swift, Bill Gates, and Zuckerberg, have had their flights tracked, raising concerns about personal safety. Sweeney’s accounts that followed other celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Governor Ron DeSantis and Jeff Bezos were also deleted.

Battling Musk on X

In January 2022, before Elon Musk purchased Twitter, he offered Sweeney $5,000 to delete his account that tracked Musk’s private jet. 

Sweeney countered by asking for $50,000 and a Tesla, but Musk declined. 

By late 2022, Musk suspended Sweeney’s @ElonJet account, which had over 530,000 followers. Sweeney created a new account under the handle @ElonJetNextDay, posting Musk’s flights with a one-day delay, in line with X’s updated rules on publicly available information.

Taylor Swift Sends Legal Threat

Taylor Swift’s legal team sent Sweeney a cease-and-desist letter in 2023, stating, "While this may be a game to you... it is a life-or-death matter for our Client." 

Recent regulations allowing private jet owners to keep registration data anonymous have made Sweeney’s job more difficult, though he remains determined.

Sweeney Says He Got "Zucked"

Originally on Instagram Sweeney posted that “Today feels like December 15th, 2022,” referring to the date X terminated his @ElonJet account.

In a later post titled “Jet Tracking on Threads and Instagram got Zucked.”

He elaborates that, “No matter the intent, this situation reflects poorly on Meta. Across platforms like X and Threads, I've had a total of 38 accounts suspended. The behavior is consistent: these platforms operate without transparency, and it feels like they make arbitrary decisions.”