On social media platforms, there's generally a laid-back approach – unless it potentially threatens the comfort or security of the wealthy elites.
On X (previously Twiter), almost anything is acceptable, such as neo-Nazism propaganda, digital scams, and adult content (as long as it's appropriately labeled).
Facebook and Instagram have somewhat stricter rules, but it's still possible to find misinformation about elections ("they're eating pets"), fabricated data about hurricane relief funds, untrue celebrity feuds, or AI-generated images suggesting that Hurricane Milton destroyed Disney World (it didn't).
One thing that neither company tolerates is publicly monitoring the owners' private jet travels.
Check it out: On Monday, Meta suspended numerous Instagram and Threads accounts, which tracked using publicly accessible information, the routes of various celebrities' private jets, including one linked to Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Other accounts, managed by a college student from Florida named Jack Sweeney, tracked individuals like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Taylor Swift, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Kim Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner.
"Given the potential for physical harm to individuals, and in accordance with the independent Oversight Board's recommendation, we've disabled these accounts for violating our privacy policies," a Meta spokesperson told CNN via email.
The suspension of Sweeney's Instagram and Threads accounts took place two years after Elon Musk acquired Twitter and briefly suspended Sweeney's "ElonJet" feed. Later, the account was reinstated with a 24-hour delay to satisfy the site's privacy policy.
"Today brings a sense of déjà vu," Sweeney wrote Tuesday on Bluesky, the closest thing to a pre-Musk Twitter. "These platforms operate without transparency, and it feels like they make arbitrary decisions."
Sweeney, who claimed he has had 38 accounts suspended across various social media platforms, added that he received "no communication from Meta — no warnings, no explanation."
The public figures Sweeney tracks aren't particularly fond of the attention. Earlier this year, Taylor Swift's legal team sent a cease and desist letter to Sweeney, accusing him of "stalking and harassment."
While it's understandable to protect Swift and wish her no harm, it's important to remember that Sweeney doesn't secretly track her plane's movements and then reveal them.
US authorities maintain a public database of all private plane owners in the United States, which is identified by the aircraft's tail number. Sweeney's algorithm operates on this information, making it more convenient to track.
It's unclear whether Meta prioritizes its users' privacy and well-being as much as it does Zuckerberg's privacy.
The company has taken significant steps to curb false and dangerous content, though it has yet to fully address the issue of disinformation on its platforms.
For instance, Instagram recently introduced "teen account" settings that default to "private" and limit the kinds of content young people can access. This move came nearly three years after a whistleblower exposed internal documents suggesting Meta was aware of the harmful effects its products were having and did nothing to address them.
As my colleague Clare Duffy recently wrote, court documents from recent lawsuits against Meta have alleged that Zuckerberg impeded well-being initiatives for teenagers, that Meta refused to shut down accounts belonging to children under the age of 13, and that the company has aided child predators. At a Senate hearing in January, Zuckerberg apologized to families who claimed their children had been harmed by social media.
If you think that's disturbing, imagine if Zuckerberg's security team had to conduct a thorough search of the venue he just landed at in his literal private jet.
The irony of Meta's suspension of Sweeney's accounts is that the move acknowledges the immense power (and risk) involved in gathering and amplifying data in an engaging way.
Meta is essentially saying: Sure, anyone could find Zuckerberg's jet through public data, but you must understand that when an algorithm automatically forces it into your line of sight, that's the kind of thing that could inspire people to... engage in harmful activities.
Oh, you mean like how anyone can start a rumor about people eating pets online, but when Facebook's algorithm drives engagement with the rumor, it's the kind of thing that could... escalate out of control?
Gee. We've all learned an essential lesson this week about the responsible dissemination of sensitive information.
In the context of Meta's suspension of various accounts that tracked celebrity private jet travels, including one linked to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a Meta spokesperson stated, "Given the potential for physical harm to individuals, and in accordance with the independent Oversight Board's recommendation, we've disabled these accounts for violating our privacy policies."
Furthermore, prior to Meta's action, Taylor Swift's legal team sent a cease and desist letter to the tracker, Jack Sweeney, accusing him of "stalking and harassment."
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