Back in November:
“My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk.”
Elon Musk
Yesterday, some guy named “Elon Musk” suspended the Twitter account of 20-year-old Jack Sweeney. Sweeny ran the Twitter account @elonjet, the one that tracked Musk’s travels. The account had 500,000 followers. One can make a lot of money with an account that large.
Here today, Elon tomorrow. Musk’s promise to be the “leader of free speech,” even at his own expense, is dumber than a panda fight.
Were that not enough, Musk further stated that “legal action is being taken against Sweeney.” Musk suggested (No proof) that Sweeney “supported harm” to his family. Go back to what Elon said in November. He knew there was a security risk. It didn’t matter then when he hadn’t yet gained full control. Does Musk know that a lot of MAGA accounts were closed due to security risks? Of course, he does. He just doesn’t give a fck. He’s Elon Musk.
But it’s not just the “security risk” that got the account shut down. A person can get a lot of valuable business intelligence with the ability to track someone like Musk. If Musk’s plane is in Omaha, everyone knows he’s meeting with Buffet. If Musk’s plane is in Bentonville, Arkansas, he’s furious with Walmart and trying to work something out. There is a reason that the top bankers at Goldman, Chase, UBS, etc., keep their movements entirely secret.
Musk is exposing his inner asshole. It was always there. A lot of us just didn’t quite appreciate the depth of his evil selfishness. Perhaps that’s why he gets along with Trump so well. Two days ago, a 20-year-old had a fancy, fat Twitter account due to an ingenious idea. Yesterday, he lost the account. Today, that same 20-year-old will have to fend off attorneys hired by the richest man on Earth. Elon doesn’t just destroy. He punishes. This is a statement to anyone else considering displeasing Musk with “free speech.”
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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, Substack: Much Ado About Some Progressive Things
The guy is protected by the 1st Amendment. It’s public information…and if Elmo doesn’t have something to hide, he should STFU because his actions make it look like he *does* have something to hide.
Musk has become the new Trump.
I can practically hear the ACLU salivating at the thought of discovery…
Or the EFF
Indeed. Especially since elmo gave implicit permission for the 20 year old to do exactly what he/she did. Hope nobody wants to use and of space karen’s rockets. If this is an example of his “intelligence” we’re in for some serious rocket explosions.
Not too smart there elmo.
I worry about the young man’s legal expenses. Musk’s goal is probably to cause him to lose the money he made off of the tracking of Musk’s plane. However, Musk has no legal case. Flight plans are filed with the FAA and are public records. Sure, some general aviation type fliying a single engine Cessna out of some tiny airport that doesn’t even have a control tower might not file one, but that’s not at all the case at fully functional airports and I’m not talking those with actual airline service. And for damned sure any pilot that wants to keep their license, even if flying some really rich person from a private airstrip on that person’s property will file one.
So it’s public record for Musk or anyone else and the only issue is the ease of accessing the information. But it’s there and for all his money Elon fucking Musk can’t stop the FAA from providing it to those who know how and where to find it! The ONLY exceptions to flight plans being restricted from public availability are military flights and certain other government flights that are sensitive. One of Musk’s flights would only qualify if he was asked to travel secretly on U.S. government business and he chose to fly on his own jet because it had more creature comforts than a government plane. I emphasize the point about being asked to travel on govt. business in secret because the whole thing was classified – by the government. (Not Musk)
So he has no legal case. He knows it. But he can and probably will fuck with this young man’s life because at heart Elon Musk is an asshole. With an increasingly out of control ego.
My father was a pilot, ground school instructor, and flight instructor. We also had two small planes (one Cessna 150 for teaching purposes and one Cessna twin engine for family traveling). I can tell you this: flight plans are filed regardless of the size of the plane or airport. If it is a small airport, having some sort of facility (most do, only private airstrips don’t), then the plans are filed with the airport at the facility. Flight logs are also kept on every flight so they can be checked against the plans filed when one flies. Air travel is, or at least was, very well regulated for safety reasons. You absolutely need to know where planes are or where they might be. Anyone who doesn’t commiserate with Flight Control folks would stomp on kittens for amusement.