A college student from Florida is facing legal trouble for operating social media accounts that track the private jet movements of celebrities and public figures, including Taylor Swift. The student, Jack Sweeney, revealed to CNN on Tuesday that he had received a cease-and-desist letter from Swift’s legal team, instructing him to halt the publication of information about Swift’s flights on his accounts. The Washington Post was the first to report on this development.
This isn’t the first time Sweeney has courted controversy. Previously, he tracked the jet movements of billionaire Elon Musk, whose legal team shut down Sweeney’s “@ElonJet” account in December 2022, citing security concerns for Musk and his family.
Despite the setback, Sweeney, who has since been reinstated on X (formerly Twitter), continues to operate accounts that monitor the private jets of other prominent individuals such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. He utilizes publicly available data from the Federal Aviation Administration and flight signals from aviation enthusiasts to track the flights, even estimating the carbon emissions associated with each flight in his posts.
In the cease-and-desist letter sent to Sweeney by Swift’s attorneys, led by Katie Morrone of Venable LLP, in December, he was accused of engaging in “stalking and harassing behavior” by consistently sharing real-time and precise information about Swift’s whereabouts on social media. The letter emphasized the potential threat to Swift’s safety, particularly given her history of dealing with stalkers and individuals with malicious intent. It cited instances where people had attempted to harm Swift and argued that sharing her location information provided a roadmap for such actions.
The letter also referenced Musk’s offer of $5,000 to Sweeney to delete his Twitter account that tracked Musk’s jet, to which Sweeney responded by asking for $50,000. The letter underscored the seriousness of the matter for Swift, warning that legal action would be pursued if Sweeney continued to publish information about her jet travels.
Sweeney explained that he received the letter from Swift’s attorneys following criticism of the singer’s carbon footprint by nonprofit organizations and media outlets. He maintained that his actions were not malicious and that he was simply utilizing public information. While acknowledging Swift’s concerns, Sweeney defended his transparency efforts, stating that her fans were genuinely interested in his accounts and that tracking her jet was within the realm of public expectation, regardless of his involvement.
