Twitter updates its private information and media policy with new rules, including suspending accounts “dedicated to sharing someone else's live location”

The suspended accounts include one that followed the private plane of Elon Musk, Twitter's owner.

New York Times 2022-12-15 Ryan Mac

Context & Ripple Effects

Twitter's policy change formalizes enforcement that began with the suspension of the Elon Musk jet-tracking bot and expanded the same day to roughly 30 accounts using public flight data. The rule turns an account-specific dispute into a platform-wide restriction on real-time location sharing.

Its significance widened almost immediately: Twitter applied its stated doxxing rationale to suspended journalists and later blocked links to Mastodon servers, tying safety-policy enforcement to both reporting and user exit routes.

First-order effects

Accounts dedicated to publishing another person's live location, including trackers of private aircraft, face suspension under Twitter's revised private-information rules.
Twitter gains an explicit policy basis for removing @ElonJet-style accounts rather than relying on case-by-case moderation decisions.

Second-order effects

Journalists covering suspended trackers face a narrower path to share or discuss real-time location material, as Twitter has said the same doxxing rules apply to them.
Alternative distribution becomes more valuable to tracking-account operators: Jack Sweeney's 24-hour-delayed replacement account shows how delayed data can fit outside the real-time restriction.

Third-order effects

If Twitter continues to treat publicly available location data as private information when shared in real time, platform policy—not the public source of the data—will determine whether such tracking remains distributable.
The pairing of account suspensions with restrictions on Mastodon links points toward a more centralized moderation model in which enforcement choices can shape both speech and migration options.

The trend: Twitter is moving from moderation of individual accounts toward policy-based control of real-time personal-data distribution and the channels users use to contest or bypass it.

Discussion

@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info. Posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn't a safety problem, so is ok.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@jhall Real-time posting of someone else's location violates doxxing policy, but delayed posting of locations are ok
@twittersafety @twittersafety on x
We've updated our Private Information policy to prohibit sharing someone else's live location in most cases. Here's what changed and why. 🧵
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Last night, car carrying lil X in LA was followed by crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked car from moving & climbed onto hood. Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.
@twittersafety @twittersafety on x
When someone shares an individual's live location on Twitter, there is an increased risk of physical harm. Moving forward, we'll remove Tweets that share this information, and accounts dedicated to sharing someone else's live location will be suspended.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Anyone recognize this person or car? https://twitter.com/...
@joshuaphilll @joshuaphilll on x
Getting called a liar by your own app. Embarrassing https://twitter.com/...
@moltisantithots @moltisantithots on x
Elon says we can't tweet about the Jets no more, T. https://twitter.com/...
@twittersafety @twittersafety on x
You can still share your own live location on Twitter. Tweets that share someone else's historical (not same-day) location information are also not prohibited by this policy.
@keithedwards Keith Edwards on x
This is old data from Elon's jet, so it's ok to share. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@radishharmers Sridhar Ramesh on x
This insane stalker got a vanity plate with Elon's kid's name on it. https://twitter.com/...
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
your owner forced your ex-employee to flee his home for his personal safety over the weekend and he didn't even need to post his live location https://twitter.com/...
@melissagomez004 Melissa Gomez on x
The accounts included in this piece, including @CelebJets, @RUOligarchjets and @PutinJet, which were active when this piece was published, appear to also be suspended https://www.wsj.com/...
@williamturton William Turton on x
Quite obvious he's making up policy on the fly. If someone reported that a defendant in a criminal trial arrived at a courthouse as it is happening, would that be doxxing? What about a basketball player arriving to an arena for a game? How would you even enforce this? https://twi…
@eliothiggins Eliot Higgins on x
How much of a delay? 10 minutes? An hour? A week? https://twitter.com/...
@eliothiggins Eliot Higgins on x
So the people who were following Navalny's plane and posting its location when he was returning to Russia after being poisoned would have all been at risk of being suspended under this new policy. https://twitter.com/...
@atrupar Aaron Rupar on x
By the letter of this policy you could be suspended for tweeting that you ran into a famous person at a restaurant https://twitter.com/...
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
wild back to back tweets. https://twitter.com/...
@mehdirhasan Mehdi Hasan on x
So journalists can't say where, say, the president is? Or can't say who is speaking at a live protest or rally? And what does ‘slightly delayed’ even mean? Who defined that? Oh, and last question: do you still consider yourself a ‘free speech absolutist’? https://twitter.com/...
@timfullerton Tim Fullerton on x
The CEO of your company literally made up allegations against a former employee, which caused him to flee his house due to death threats. https://twitter.com/...
@drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
@elonmusk Sweeney's account posted publicly available data about your car, too?
@wholemarsblog @wholemarsblog on x
@elonmusk Elon, he is just a kid. Don't take legal action against him. It's bad press + the streisand effect. I understand you must be angry when the safety of your kid is being put at risk, but still dealing with Greenspan I wouldn't want anyone else to go through that.
@ryangrim Ryan Grim on x
Wow, @elonmusk bans users from posting time and place of drag queen story hours, I guess https://twitter.com/...
@silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x
Ah we've entered the crowd sourced vigilantism stage cool cool cool https://twitter.com/...
@olivermathenge Oliver Mathenge on x
So if I tweet that a visiting Head of State is meeting the Kenyan President at State House, I will get suspended? Or what is this guy on about? What does “slightly delayed basis” even mean? https://twitter.com/...
@juddlegum Judd Legum on x
Not sure who runs this account, but why lie? This change was made because Musk didn't want people posting about where he takes his private jet, even though this information is publicly available. He owns Twitter, so he changed the rules. https://twitter.com/...
@bungdan Dan Murphy on x
See, an unevenly-applied rule to ban accounts urging people to die from a deadly virus or to join an unprecedented violent insurrection against US democracy is anti-free speech. The same rule to protect billionaires from public scrutiny is pro-free speech. https://www.nytimes.com…
@levinejonathan Jon Levine on x
You can get Elon on hypocrisy over the the plane account, but it's really hard to argue with this logic more broadly https://twitter.com/...
@oliverdarcy Oliver Darcy on x
It sounds like Musk is saying certain speech is dangerous and has the ability to lead to real-world violence. 🧐 https://twitter.com/...
@heerjeet Jeet Heer on x
So if you write “Donald Trump's plane just landed in Philadelphia where he's speaking at a rally” you are in violation of doxxing policy & can be suspended? Are we okay with that? https://twitter.com/...
@davidcorndc David Corn on x
Clarification, please. Does this mean a reporter on Twitter cannot report the real-time whereabouts of a political candidate, a government official, a prominent person, a celebrity. “Donald Trump's at the dry cleaner!”—Nope? Or, “Here's Alex Jones at a drag show!” Can't do that? …
@owillis Oliver Willis on x
😂 must make up new rules to protect the precious, but totally ok for Libs of TikTok to direct firebombers to draq venues https://twitter.com/...
@JxckS@mastodon.social Jack Sweeney on mastodon
Elon gave me no warning.... plus he suspended all of my accounts, half of which track aircraft …
@jxcksweeney Jack Sweeney on x
Well it appears @ElonJet is suspended.
@jxcksweeney Jack Sweeney on x
Screenshots show Ella Irwin VP at Twitter Trust and Safety requesting elonjet to have heavy VF (visibility filtering) https://twitter.com/...
@jason @jason on x
My personal belief is that sustained sharing of public location information is de facto doxing If one individual followed another around all day & shared their location on a twitter handle called “Susan's location” that would obviously present a dangerous security risk
@jxcksweeney Jack Sweeney on x
Internal messages obtained by a anonymous Twitter employee explained to me that on “Dec 2 2022 your account @elonjet was visibility limited/restricted to a severe degree internally.”
@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
I just spoke again with Sweeney. He said he had about 30 accounts suspended by Twitter. The notification he received on his own personal account was that he violated rules “against platform manipulation and spam” as seen below. He is in disbelief. https://twitter.com/...
@jxcksweeney Jack Sweeney on x
It is https://twitter.com/...
@jxcksweeney Jack Sweeney on x
My Twitter Files on the shadow banning/filtering of @ElonJet
@jxcksweeney Jack Sweeney on x
It appears @ElonJet is longer banned or hidden in anyway. I think Twitter noticed my tweets and back tracked. Guilty in my book. https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
It looks like @elonmusk has killed the account that was tracking the location of his jet (using publicly available information) @ElonJet https://twitter.com/...
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
“free speech maximalist” (this was the Elon jet guy's personal account) https://twitter.com/...
@anthony Anthony DeRosa on x
The account @elonjet, which tracks Elon Musk's private plane using publicly available flight tracking data, has been suspended Background on the young man who runs the account: https://www.wsj.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@jhall Jim Hall on x
What Jack was sharing at elonjet & on his own @ made it 1000 times easier for 🥜jobs to know ahead of time what airport or city @elonmusk & his family would be at. Video👇 is example of paparazzi stalkers& fans waiting for him at airport. Good riddance! https://twitter.com/... http…
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
NEW: We spoke to Jack Sweeney, the 20-year-old behind @elonjet — the account that tracks @elonmusk's plane. https://www.cnn.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
The account is still on the obscure free speech platform Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@kenklippenstein Ken Klippenstein on x
Twitter is blocking links to the Elon Musk's Jet Instagram account, which it calls “potentially harmful” https://twitter.com/...
@sofakissen Daniel Ziegener on x
Hi @elonmusk, what happened to @ElonJet? https://twitter.com/...
@leo_puglisi6 Leonardo Puglisi on x
ElonJet - the account that tracks @elonmusk's private jet - has been suspended https://twitter.com/...
@schwarz @schwarz on x
On Sunday I emailed Ella Irwin, Twitter's “Product & Trust leader,” to ask if this purported leaked screenshot was real. She hasn't responded. Given that @elonjet has now been permanently suspended, I guess we can assume it was. https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
@elonmusk @ElonJet A month ago @elonmusk said his not banning the @ElonJet account was an example of his commitment to free speech. https://twitter.com/...
@nickywoolf Nicky Woolf on x
free speech is back baby https://twitter.com/...
@armystrang @armystrang on x
Some speech is freer than others https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@mark_dow Dow on x
Let's be real: Elon Musk lives in the real world where there are real crazies, who, incited by online bullshit, might literally do crazy things. But here's the rub: so does Anthony Fauci https://twitter.com/...
@nicoleperlroth Nicole Perlroth on x
Following your logic, is it safe to assume you're against Twitter's plans to force users to opt-in to location sharing @jason? https://twitter.com/...
@bobbybigwheel @bobbybigwheel on x
I hope liberal journalist Matt Taibbi will shed light on the internal deliberations around this policy change https://twitter.com/...
@michaeldweiss Michael Weiss on x
Might want to get a squad car to his hair restoration surgeon's house next. https://twitter.com/...
@gergelyorosz Gergely Orosz on x
@Jason So are you suggesting that eg @zuccjet and @celebjets are doxing? They have been sharing public locations on a Twitter handle for years, just like you explained. If so, should there be some sort of procedure Twitter follows to define what doxing means and what action they …
@pmarca Marc Andreessen on x
Me suppressing my personal information is protecting my physical safety. You suppressing your personal information is an unacceptable breach of free expression.
@thedailybanter Ben Cohen on x
“According to Sweeney, @ElonJet has been under close watch at Twitter HQ. He posted on his personal account that an anonymous Twitter employee told him that his account was visibility limited on December 2.” Can we get @bariweiss and @mtaibbi on the case? https://techcrunch.com/.…
@fuckyouiquit @fuckyouiquit on x
$44B spent just to take down the account of the guy who tracked his jet https://twitter.com/...
@faizsays Faiz Siddiqui on x
I talked to Jack Sweeney, a Musk fan, right after Musk took over. He didn't think Musk would outright ban him: “I personally think he won't do it because then the news would be all over it and he would be called a hypocrite.” as it turns out... https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@mattbc @mattbc on x
Remember yesterday the news that of you don't pay for Blue, you'll have to give twitter your location constantly? Lol https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
So among the ~30 accounts of Sweeney's that got suspended include @weatherplanes (NOAA), @nasaplanes (NASA), and @airforcetrack (Air Force) that tracked government agency planes. If these suspensions were done on “personal safety” grounds, as some suggested, why were these hit?
@ashleyfeinberg Ashley Feinberg on x
on a related note, someone yelled at me on the street which is why i will be suing every phone company https://twitter.com/...
@joshtpm Josh Marshall on x
Hard to know what possible case Musk cld have against this kid, though he cld use his billions to try to crush him w frivolous actions. And what possible connection does plane tracking have to this purported attack on his car? https://twitter.com/...
@peterbcampbell Peter Campbell on x
It is ironic that he doesn't want anyone tracking him at the same time he is introducing mandatory opt-in location tracking for users. https://twitter.com/...
@tweetermeyer E.W. Niedermeyer on x
The fact that this kid identifies himself as a Musk fan makes him less sympathetic, not more. This isn't some journalistic hero, this is someone who monetized a billionaire narcissist's toxic personality cult and is now reaping the utterly predictable results. https://twitter.com…
@pmarca Marc Andreessen on x
Me revealing your personal information is transparency in the public interest. You revealing my personal information is doxxing and puts my life in danger.
@mattnavarra Matt Navarra on x
Twitter banned the @ElonJet account Then reinstated it Then banned it again What a total shitshow https://boingboing.net/... https://twitter.com/...
@goldengateblond Shauna on x
the Streisand Effect in full force. you love to see it. https://twitter.com/...
@juliusgoat @juliusgoat on x
If the account had been tracking trans teens, Elon would be spending all his time in its mentions sucking up to it. https://twitter.com/...
@intelcrab @intelcrab on x
Ah yes, ruin the kid's whole life for running a novelty bot account. Teach the young lad a lesson. https://twitter.com/...
@noupside Renee DiResta on x
Truth Social just pushed a notification that @ElonJet was now active and could be followed on Truth Social. Social media corporate shade.
@shannonpareil Shannon Bond on x
to be clear, this is the same strategy of link blocking Twitter applied to the NY Post Hunter Biden story in October 2020 that Elon & the Twitter Files disclosures have said was bad https://twitter.com/...
@r0wdy_ @r0wdy_ on x
It's censorship of legal speech, which is the antithesis of everything Elon and his “crew” have been saying they want twitter to be about. You can't have it both ways. Your moderation policy will be just like the old regime's, but with different values https://twitter.com/...
@tree_of_alpha @tree_of_alpha on x
Nov 7 really was a day of international lying for billionaires wasn't it https://twitter.com/...
@andylevy Andy on x
if you hired someone to keep track of dude's different stances on ‘free speech’ it would be a full-time position https://twitter.com/...
@tszzl Roon on x
this has nothing to do with flight trackers obviously, but i admire the classic “think of the children” rhetoric to justify every unilateral decision https://twitter.com/...
@aravosis John Aravosis on x
So you're saying the stories about Twitter requiring us to turn our location data on, and letting you sell it, are inaccurate? https://twitter.com/...
@mehdirhasan Mehdi Hasan on x
So if there's harm to Musk or his family, then it isn't free speech and it is restricted. Harm to anyone else or their families, it's free speech - nay, it's the future of Western civilization! - and there can be no restrictions. Got it? https://twitter.com/...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
It's telling which types of “free speech” Elon Musk supports (neo-Nazis) and which he censors (publicly available data about his own private jet). https://twitter.com/...
@goldman Jason Goldman on x
Every paragraph of this story reads like a dispatch from a failed state https://twitter.com/...
@dcwoodruff Chase Woodruff on x
Once again, as funny as this whole saga has been, it's part of a genuinely alarming antidemocratic moment, led by a tiny class of tech oligarchs who consider themselves immune by divine right from scrutiny and scorn from the rabble, and may well be poised to get their wish. https…
@cubanjet @cubanjet on x
DISCLAIMER - In accordance with the new @TwitterSupport policy ( https://twitter.com/... ), this account does NOT report locations of any individuals. It only reports publicly available data broadcast by the aircraft itself. It does not know any passengers or crew aboard.
@samfbiddle Sam Biddle on x
After weeks of lambasting Twitter's prior owners for contriving arbitrary rationales to suppress speech, Musk now bans the creator of an account that tracked his publicly available jet information by claiming he was committing “platform manipulation and spam.” OK! https://twitter…
@samfbiddle Sam Biddle on x
Trying to tie Sweeney aggregating 100% public, legally available airplane data with this alleged incident involving a *car* is beyond dishonest, as is the notion that he's done something legally actionable. Is he going to sue his own jet's transponder for “doxing” him too? https:…
@mehdirhasan Mehdi Hasan on x
I. Told. You. So. https://twitter.com/...
@rschooley @rschooley on x
Always revealing how free speech is defined by its most vocal proponents. https://twitter.com/...
@mollyjongfast Molly Jong-Fast on x
Is this freedom of speech? https://twitter.com/...
@snazzyq Quinn Nelson on x
I'm ready for the mental gymnastics the first amendment folks are gonna use. https://twitter.com/...
@georgehahn George Hahn on x
Meanwhile, it's cool for Elon to unleash a campaign against ⁦@yoyoel⁩ that has yielded threats against Yoel so severe that he is forced to move. https://www.wsj.com/...
@nikkimcr Nikki Mccann Ramírez on x
Sweeney's other account @CelebJets, which tracked the flights of celebrity private jets using publicly available data, has also been suspended. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@justinbaragona Justin Baragona on x
Annnnd Twitter has now permanently suspended the personal account of the guy who runs the @ElonJet account. https://twitter.com/...
@oalexanderdk Oliver Alexander on x
Jack Sweeney, the man behind ElonJet and SpaceXJet has now also been suspended on Twitter. Just wait until Elon learns about @flightradar24 and @ADSBexchange https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@moskov Dustin Moskovitz on x
The account that I was quote tweeting was apparently suspended. The tweet looked roughly like this. https://twitter.com/...
@pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings on x
Free to believe whatever you want, but it's (a) still speech to say that location (b) that speech is not illegal. Twitter is free to block whomever it wants. But you can't dodge the hypocrisy; it's censorship of non-illegal speech decided by management https://twitter.com/...
@mikealfred Mike Alfred on x
This is always the way it goes. Despite statements indicating otherwise, the new despot is always the same as the old despot. Free speech for me but not for you. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@normative Julian Sanchez on x
This is particularly dumb given that the account was just broadcasting public information anyone can look up. Want to track Elon's jet? Just bookmark this link. https://globe.adsbexchange.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@acabylonbee @acabylonbee on x
For all the leftists shedding crocodile tears over @ElonJet getting suspended, even absolute free speech has limits. That account was clearly violating Twitter rules. https://twitter.com/...
@frankluntz Frank Luntz on x
The @ElonJet account has now been suspended from Twitter 2.0. https://twitter.com/...
@joncoopertweets Jon Cooper on x
I'm confused. Isn't @ElonJet's PERMANENT SUSPENSION a clear violation of free speech? Also, exactly how did this account violate the Twitter rules?
@jamesrbuk James Ball on x
Flight tracking data is public. Twitter's policy is that data which is publicly and legally available elsewhere online can be shared here. Elon Musk even *specifically said* he wouldn't ban this account. ...and he's banned it. Will he bother inventing a rule it broke, or..? https…
@nkulw Noah Kulwin on x
Lol so that crank child exploitation expert that Musk has promoted is predictably just his lackey https://twitter.com/...
@esqueer_ Alejandra Caraballo on x
The creator of the account has a screenshot of a slack message by Ella Irwin, Twitter Trust And Safety head requesting that his account be visibly filtered. Three days later, it's banned. https://twitter.com/...
@maddoxrules @maddoxrules on x
For the record, I'm not even disagreeing with this decision. But the thing about having unwavering principles, is that you have to commit to them. And he seems to allow exceptions for people he doesn't like. This is always been about control. He's not a free speech absolutist. ht…
@schwarz @schwarz on x
One way you could predict Elon Musk would not actually support free speech once he owned Twitter was his lifelong opposition to free speech https://twitter.com/...
@jakesherman Jake Sherman on x
Raises huge questions for freedom of speech and people like me, who track flights for fun and sometimes post about them! https://twitter.com/...
@acabylonbee @acabylonbee on x
Comedy is now illegal again on Twitter https://twitter.com/...
@bydavidgardner David Gardner on x
In a move that will surprise literally no one, “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk has suspended the account that tracks the publicly available information about where his private jet flies https://twitter.com/...
@mattsheffield Matthew Sheffield on x
Yet another instance of Elon Musk being exposed for censoring speech that he doesn't like. Like all right-wing activists, when he says “free speech,” he means having his views promoted, not creating an equal public square. https://twitter.com/...
@k @k on x
Nobody would be so petty as to try and shut down an acct in late Jan, fail, then start buying shares in late March, buy the company, make a big stink about “bots”, and eventually try and minimize the acct just to get their way...right? You'd have to be really small and insecure. …
@williamturton William Turton on x
Free speech commitment lasted just over one month https://twitter.com/...
@iansherr @iansherr on x
“Free speech for me, but not for thee” @elonmusk? https://twitter.com/...
@ettinger Andrew Ettinger on x
the next CEO's Twitter Files are gonna be real good https://twitter.com/...
@pitdesi Sheel Mohnot on x
Interesting test of free speech - twitter suspended the account that automatically tweeted out the movement of Elon's private jet (which is public info anyway via ADS-B). Notably, they did not suspend the account of @ZuccJet (Zuckerberg) or @CelebJets (Jay-Z, Oprah, etc) https://…

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