Celebrity Plane Tracking Accounts That Followed Taylor Swift and Other A-Listers Suspended by Meta

Jack Sweeney, a college student who tracks A-listers' private jets, announced that multiple Instagram and Threads accounts he runs have been suspended by Meta.

In a statement titled “Jet Tracking on Instagram and Threads got Zucked” — which he shared to his personal X (formerly Twitter) account on Oct. 22 — Sweeney says that all of his jet tracking accounts were “blacked out” by the company owned by Mark Zuckerberg, one of the celebrities whose flights he documented. 

“My Instagram and Threads account, @elonmusksjet, has been suspended once again. Unlike previous suspensions, where warnings or status updates were provided along with reasons, this time the account simply appears blacked out, with no options to interact or receive information,” the statement reads. “What makes this more troubling is that I've received no communication from Meta-no warnings, no explanation.”

Sweeney first became widely known for tracking Elon Musk’s private plane on the now-deleted X account, ElonJet, by using publicly available flight-path data, and then sharing that information with his followers, according to the BBC.

In addition to tracking Elon Musk, he had Instagram accounts that followed Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — all of which have been suspended, Sweeney says in his statement. 

“I've been tracking jets on Instagram for a long time, and about 10 months ago, my account tracking Taylor Swift's jets (@taylorswiftjets) was suspended. Yet, my other jet-tracking accounts continued to operate just fine, showing a clear case of selective enforcement.”

He continues, “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.”

In December 2022 — after X was purchased by Musk for $44 billion — Sweeney confirmed that all of his 30 jet tracking accounts on the platform were “permanently suspended,” according to an article he penned for Newsweek.

Sweeney calls out X in his Oct. 22 statement for using the same “concerning” techniques as Meta.

“X, for example, continues using the same tactics as the old Twitter; the only difference now is who's in charge. Ironically, Elon Musk, who once criticized Twitter for its lack of free speech, is now using the very same techniques— shadow-banning jet-tracking accounts and blocking links to public information that tracks his jet,” he writes.

He concludes the statement by questioning whether it was Meta’s decision alone to suspend his accounts, and notes that he was “ironically” working on building up his presence on Threads.

“Something clearly triggered this wave of suspensions, but as of now, I'm left without answers,” he says.

In a statement to TechCrunch, Meta shared, “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.

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Sweeney, who is currently studying information technology, grew up in Orlando and “is the son of an airline maintenance operations controller and a teacher,” which inspired his interest in jet tracking, the BBC reports.

Though he told the outlet in February that he tries to be “fair” and “share everyone's info no matter who it is," his passion has led celebrities like Swift and Musk to threaten legal action.    

PEOPLE has reached out to Sweeney for comment but did not receive an immediate response.