In case you missed it, it would appear that the recent rash (what a perfect word to use here!) of liberal journalists who have seen their Twitter accounts get suspended messed up by linking to the account that had been posting real-time information about the whereabouts of Elon Musk’s jet (that account has also been suspended).
so far, i’ve been able to confirm about half the accounts suspended posted links to the jet tracker thing in violation of the new doxx’ing policy. unclear just yet about the rest, but i think it’s safe to say the rule is for real. https://t.co/8MDCG19kNO
— Mike Solana (@micsolana) December 16, 2022
It’s understandable that Musk would be fired up about the jet tracker account, particularly since someone went after one of his kids the other night.
Last night, car carrying lil X in LA was followed by crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked car from moving & climbed onto hood.
Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2022
Now, it’s important to understand that it’s not necessarily fair to blame Jack Sweeney, the guy behind the jet tracker account, for the stalking incident.
Blaming @ElonJet for the criminal actions of a stalker is the same logic as blaming Matt Walsh for the Colorado Springs shooting.
Shining a light on public information available to everyone does not make you responsible for the crimes others commit.
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) December 16, 2022
However, that also does not excuse what Sweeney did. Especially because it appears that what Sweeney did could in fact be considered doxxing.
(1) As a person with 24/7 security to protect my family, I'm highly sympathetic to Musk's attempt to quash doxxing BUT
(2) Doxxing typically refers to giving people's real-time location, not speculating about publicly available flight information, as @esaagar points out.— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 16, 2022
(3) Musk’s refusal to give in to the false distinction between the “special class” of self-appointed Journalismers™ and everyone else is good and correct. Just because you call yourself a journalist doesn’t mean that different standards apply to you than the normies.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 16, 2022
(4) Also, the Journalismers™ who spent literally years shouting “speech is violence” and calling for bans don’t have a leg to stand on right now. Watching them melt down after experiencing what their opponents experienced for years while they cheered is indeed schadenfreude.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 16, 2022
(5) So, in short, I’m against the Twitter suspensions, even for garbage pseudoreporters like Rupar, at least based on posting links to publicly available flight info. At the same time, their caterwauling now is hilarious given their enthusiasm for opaque Twitter censorship.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 16, 2022
(6) One more thought: I'm seeing conflicting reports on just how much Musk does to mask his flight activities. If we define doxxing as attempting to uncover locational movements that we take action to be kept private, (2) stops applying. If doxxing means anything, it means that.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 16, 2022
This is basically where I am at with point (6) being an important caveat to (2). https://t.co/axOj7fZDbl
— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 16, 2022
he 100% is part of the *privacy* program and the kid created workarounds to continue to track him! i haven't seen a single journalist bring that up…
— Steven Spencer (@sspencer_smb) December 16, 2022
Yes. He basically admits it here, which to me is 100% a justification for suspending his account. The only question then is how the policy extends to others linking to him. https://t.co/xObYfsKC6r pic.twitter.com/gqdVR8vKGb
— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 16, 2022
We’re not really in a position to determine how the journalists who linked to the tracker should be handled. But it sure sounds like what Sweeney was doing was ignoring and bypassing roadblocks that were in place to protect Musk’s private real-time whereabouts.
My plane is actually not trackable without using non-public data
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022
Would any of the journalists who are melting down and rending their garments over being suspended or seeing their friends get suspended be OK with us posting their real-time location information? Because if the answer is no, then they need to shut their mouths and accept that what Musk is doing is justifiable and also morally correct.
Jack Sweeney was not posting Public information
Sweeney was posting the private information of @elonmusk and he knew
Elon had a "PIA" which seeks to protect the privacy of entities using private aircraft.
source: https://t.co/KV5rYldsTY pic.twitter.com/9qnmMoaNyo
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) December 16, 2022
Sweeney actually bragged that he could write software to expose @elonmusk's private info pic.twitter.com/nlqNLBoCWf
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) December 16, 2022
Jack Sweeney deliberately sought to make Musk more vulnerable, in theory jeopardizing the safety of both Musk and his family. And there’s no justification for that.
That’s stalking under the actual written law…forget TOS…he should 100% be suspended and not allowed to do it.
— DavidCWillisUSA (@DavidCWillisUSA) December 16, 2022
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