Tittering Twitter twit Elon Musk has frequently referred to himself as a “free speech absolutist,” and in some ways, his stewardship of Twitter has reflected those values. For instance, he let the guy who tried to end American democracy back onto the platform, even though it isn’t a government entity and can restrict speech in any way, shape, or form it wants. And let’s face it, allowing Donald Trump back on Twitter, which he used to incite an insurrection that resulted in the deaths of several Americans, is kind of like United Airlines following up with Osama bin Laden to make sure his terrorists got all their bonus miles.
But while Musk’s expansive definition of free speech will accommodate anti-democratic insurrectionists and Nazis galore, it has no room for people who irritate Elon Musk.
To wit: Twitter has now suspended an account, run by a self-described Elon Musk fan, that tracked the flights of Musk’s private jet, and others like it.
The account, @ElonJet, was run by Florida college student Jack Sweeney and had amassed more than half a million followers. It tracked Musk’s plane’s location using publicly available flight data and appears to have been suspended Wednesday morning.
“Well it appears @ElonJet is suspended,” Sweeney tweeted Wednesday. He encouraged users to follow him on other platforms.
The 20-year-old told CNBC he started the account in June 2020 because he was a fan of Musk’s work at Tesla and SpaceX where he’s CEO of both companies.
“Even now, my dream car is definitely a Tesla,” Sweeney said.
Well, that’s nice that you still dream of Teslas, Jack. Musk needs all the Tesla fans he can get these days.
RELATED: Elon Musk is about to learn that liberals—not his new deplorable pals—buy Teslas
Of course, this ban is particularly curious, given that Musk specifically said he would never 86 the account, thanks to his rock-ribbed devotion to free expression.
It’s also a personal safety risk to climb onto a stage in San Francisco, where everyone hates you, naively hoping you’ll receive more huzzahs than hisses. But hey, in order to protect himself from that frothing, woke Bay Area mob, he’d probably have to shove the Nazis back in their bunkers, and there’s no way he’s going to do that.
RELATED: Anti-trans villain brings racist billionaire on stage, and the audience erupts in boos
Then again, it’s nice to see Musk is so concerned about everyone’s personal safet—
Oh, what the fuck is this, now?
Nice. So Elon is so concerned about “personal safety” he decided to flush a lit cherry bomb into the seamy septic tank that is MAGA Twitter. Apparently, giving sensible public health guidance to people during a raging pandemic is illegal now. And if the government refuses to take Fauci down for his serial outrages, Elon will release the flying Muskies.
RELATED: 'Prosecute/Fauci': Musk aligns himself with the far-right, and Twitter is now dangerously unsafe
Musk’s banning of @ElonJet also follows an apparent attempt to mute the account. On Dec. 10, Sweeney shared information “obtained by an anonymous Twitter employee” showing that his account was being restricted “to a severe degree.”
Others seemingly confirmed the so-called “shadow ban.”
Not long after tweeting about the account’s ostensible shadow ban, Sweeney noted that Twitter had apparently relented.
Twitter relented for three days, anyway.
Ah, but if Musk wants to make sure @ElonJet (and its tracking of the world’s formerly richest man’s Uber-like use of a private jet) disappears forever, he’ll have to buy Mastadon and ruin it, too. ‘Cause that’s where Sweeney has since set up shop.
And that’s where he’ll likely stay, since Twitter has now banned Sweeney’s personal account as well:
And Musk appears to be protecting his fellow filthy rich guys, too:
Chances are, before long, the mephitic Musk funk—which hovers portentously over Tesla like Trump’s sweaty neck wattle over a Mar-a-Lago omelet bar—will so overwhelm Twitter that its users will be forced to follow Sweeney out the door. And then Musk and his devotees will finally have the “free speech” hub chub they’ve always wanted.
UPDATE: Wednesday, Dec 14, 2022 · 9:19:13 PM +00:00 · Aldous J Pennyfarthing
And … Musk’s demonstrated commitment to all things free speech continues!
Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.
