Twitter suspends Elon Musk’s jet tracker account

Twitter has clipped the wings of the account that actively tracked Elon Musk’s private jet, the owner of the account said Wednesday before his personal account was also suspended.

Why it’s important: The suspensions raise questions about Musk’s commitment to free speech on Twitter, a value he holds directly connected to his takeover of the platform.

• Musk said in early November that his “commitment to free speech” included the account after his flight.

Catch up quickly: Florida college student Jack Sweeney, the owner of @elonjet account, tweeted Wednesday that “it appears that @ElonJet has been suspended.”

The last: Later Wednesday, Sweeney’s personal account, @JxckSweeneyappeared to be suspended.

• “All my Twitter accounts have been banned. Even my personal one is keeping in touch with me,” Sweeney wrote on Mastodon.
• He also posted a screenshot showing that he was suspended for violating “rules against platform manipulation and spam.”

Context: In a thread 10 Dec, Sweeney claimed his account had been restricted and restricted. Sweeney shared screenshots he said were from Twitter staff showing his account was heavily filtered.

• He said two days later that his account was no longer hidden or filtered.

Flashback: Muskwhich bought Twitter for $44 billion in October, said last month that he would let the jet-tracking account live “even if it is a direct personal security risk.”

Between the lines: Advertisers are paying close attention to how Musk’s Twitter moderates content and handles free speech issues.

Go deeper: A timeline of the Musk-Twitter deal so far

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new details throughout.