Meta has banned accounts that tracked the private flights of celebrities, including its own CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. The parent company of Facebook has removed these accounts from its platforms, such as Threads and Instagram, citing safety concerns. Among the high-profile individuals being tracked were notable figures like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, socialite Kim Kardashian, influencer Kylie Jenner, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Following updates to its privacy policy, Meta took action against these accounts, which relied on publicly available information, such as flight locations and carbon emissions, to monitor celebrities’ movements. Many of these accounts received no prior warning before being banned this week.
According to Meta, this decision was made based on recommendations from its external Oversight Board, which reviews the company’s guidelines and controversial posts. In early 2022, the board suggested that even publicly available information should be removed if it could reveal private locations.
Meta stated, “Due to potential safety concerns, we have followed the Oversight Board’s recommendations and banned these accounts for violating our privacy policies.”
Many of the banned accounts were managed by Florida State University student Jack Sweeney, who gained fame for tracking celebrity flights. In a post on his private Threads account, Sweeney expressed frustration, stating that he was not notified by Meta prior to the ban and described the platform’s actions as “opaque,” feeling as if they made an arbitrary decision.
