Musk threatens legal action against Twitter user who tracked his jet

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

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

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

The latest: Musk tweeted video late Wednesday of a man who appeared to be University of Central Florida college student Jack Sweeney, the owner of the @elonjet account, in his car with the comment “Anyone recognize this person or car?” The video zoomed in on the license plate.

• Musk said Wednesday evening that he’s taking legal action against Sweeney and “organizations who supported harm to my family.”
• The Twitter owner explained the suspension saying, “real-time posting of someone else’s location violates doxxing policy, but delayed posting of locations are OK.”
• “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,” Musk added.

Catch up quick: Sweeney tweeted Wednesday that “it appears @ElonJet is suspended.”

Later Wednesday, Sweeney’s personal account, @JxckSweeney, appeared to be suspended.

• “All of my Twitter accounts have been banned. Even my personal make sure to stay connected with me,” Sweeney wrote on Mastodon.
• He also posted a screenshot that showed he was suspended for violating “rules against platform manipulation and spam.”

• Sweeney did not respond to Axios’ request for comment.

Context: In a thread on Dec. 10, Sweeney claimed that his account had been limited and restricted. Sweeney shared screenshots that he said were from Twitter employees that showed his account was heavily filtered.

• He said two days later that his account wasn’t hidden or filtered anymore.

Flashback: Musk, who purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October, said last month he would allow the jet-tracking account to live “even though that is a direct personal safety risk.”

Between the lines: Advertisers are closely watching how Musk’s Twitter moderates content and handles free speech cases.

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

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