Taylor Swift and the First Amendment: Here’s What’s Happening
The legal team of Taylor Swift warns a Florida student who operates a social media account tracking the singer’ and other celebrities’ private jets.
Jack Sweeney, a junior at the University of Central Florida, has been running social media accounts for years that document the movements of aircraft owned by billionaires, politicians, and other notable figures. These accounts also estimate the emissions generated by these flights using publicly available data from the Federal Aviation Administration and contributions from volunteer hobbyists.
Jack Sweeney, the Florida college student known for using public information to track the flights of private planes, says Taylor Swift’s lawyers sent him letters threatening legal action in December over his accounts that tracked her plane’s flights. https://t.co/mAyG9KID5L pic.twitter.com/Uj0K1Yoz8f
— Forbes (@Forbes) February 6, 2024
Sweeney’s social media activity sparked a debate on freedom of speech in late 2022 when X banned him, alleging he shared what Elon Musk referred to as “assassination coordinates.” Notably, Sweeney’s accounts do not reveal information about the passengers or destinations of the people aboard once the tracked aircraft lands.
In December, Taylor Swift’s attorney sent Sweeney a cease-and-desist letter, warning of legal action if he did not stop his “stalking and harassing behavior.” The lawyer, Katie Wright Morrone, emphasized the harm inflicted on Swift and her family and expressed concerns about Swift’s safety.
Morrone’s letter highlighted the seriousness of the matter. Furthermore, she emphasized that there was no legitimate interest in the information Sweeney shared other than to stalk and harass Swift.
The “Lavender Haze” singer often encounters stalkers outside her homes, and one individual is currently facing charges after being arrested outside her Manhattan townhouse. When asked about evidence linking stalkers to the jet-tracking accounts, Swift’s spokeswoman, Tree Paine, suggested a connection based on the timing of the stalkers’ actions.
Sweeney perceived the legal letter as an attempt to deter him from sharing publicly available data. But he stressed that his accounts merely provide an overview of Swift’s possible locations, similar to public schedules for her concerts.
He noted that the letter coincided with the songstress facing criticism for her environmental impact from private jet flights. Sweeney asserted that the information he shares is already accessible and criticized Swift’s team for attempting to control it. Private jet flights are often criticized for their significant contribution to climate change. Moreover, Sweeney’s accounts have been instrumental in highlighting the environmental impact of these flights.
One analysis labeled Swift as the “biggest celebrity polluter” of 2022. Although, this claim has been refuted by her publicist, who cited her purchase of carbon credits to offset travel. Moreover, Facebook and Instagram disabled Sweeney’s accounts tracking Swift’s air travel. They banned him for violating privacy rules. He then moved the updates to other accounts documenting celebrity flights.
FREE JACK SWEENEY!!!!
— Juan (@wthjuan) February 6, 2024
Last month, Morrone sent a second letter accusing Sweeney of “harassing conduct.”
The legal letters named three other Venable attorneys with expertise in litigation. One attorney specializes in assisting high-profile individuals in managing crises, in addition to “celebrity disgrace events,” as stated on her LinkedIn profile.
Aircraft in flight routinely transmit their locations via transponders, enabling air traffic controllers and other pilots to monitor their trajectories. These signals can be picked up by anyone on the ground using an inexpensive device called an ADS-B receiver, readily available for purchase online. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) permits aircraft owners to request that their flights be concealed from the federal data used by popular consumer flight-tracking websites like FlightAware. It appears that Swift’s jet is hidden from public view through such a request.
However, many aviation enthusiasts contribute their raw data to independent websites like ADS-B Exchange. These websites however are not subject to the FAA’s flight concealment requests. Criminal investigators, journalists, and researchers utilize these sites to access historical flight paths or identify aircraft overhead.
Swift, named TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2023, achieved a historic milestone on Sunday by becoming the only musician to win four Grammy Awards for Best Album. Her every move is closely monitored by paparazzi and devoted fans. The “Eras Tour” she embarked on last year was credited with significantly boosting the local economies of each city she visited. According to a study cited by The Washington Post, “Swifties” spent an estimated $93 million per concert.
In recent weeks, the “Lover” singer’s travel arrangements have garnered increased attention. In particular as she has flown to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, during his games with the Kansas City Chiefs. This has sparked criticism from conservatives who have seized on these trips as a point of contention.
Her travel plans have also become a significant point of interest for her fans, particularly as her upcoming concert in Tokyo is scheduled just hours before Kelce’s Super Bowl appearance in Las Vegas on Sunday. Even Japan’s embassy in Washington acknowledged the public’s curiosity, posting on X last week, “Despite the 12-hour flight and 17-hour time difference, the Embassy can confidently Speak Now to say that … she should comfortably arrive” on time.
Statement from the Embassy of Japan on Taylor Swift’s Reported Travel from Japan to the United States Are you ready for it? pic.twitter.com/wFKadehTJk
— Japan Embassy DC (@JapanEmbDC) February 2, 2024
In recent months, Sweeney’s accounts have tracked two jets owned by Nashville-based companies and registered to be operated by a Swift company called Firefly Entertainment, according to FAA documents. These accounts do not provide information about the passengers or any other chartered flights.
Swift’s spokeswoman stated that “there is only one plane.” One of the planes previously tracked by Sweeney’s accounts, a Dassault Falcon 900, was recently listed in FAA records as being transferred to a real estate company. Each jet reportedly sells for around $25 million, according to brokerage estimates.
After being banned by X along with his accounts in December 2022, Sweeney launched new Facebook and Instagram profiles for various public figures. These include former president Donald Trump, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, reality star Kim Kardashian, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. However, only Swift’s account has been banned.
Despite the ban, Sweeney continues to share updates about Swift’s jet on alternative platforms such as Bluesky, Mastodon, and Telegram. To comply with X’s prohibition on real-time location tracking, he has also set up accounts that post Musk and Swift’s flight updates with a 24-hour delay.
In the December letter from Swift’s attorney, it is stated that Sweeney’s actions are “in violation of several state laws,” though specific laws are not specified. However, the letter does reference nine anonymous Instagram comments describing the account’s content as “scary,” “pathetic,” “weird,” “invasive,” and displaying “dangerous stalker behavior.”
The letter characterizes Sweeney as “notorious for disregarding the personal safety of others in exchange for public attention and/or requests for financial gain.” It references a message he sent to Musk in 2021, during which Sweeney countered Musk’s $5,000 offer to delete the Musk-jet account with a suggestion of $50,000. Sweeney clarified that no money was ever exchanged.
Let's remember you offered me 5k to stop. Also threatened to sue me, and here we are a year later. https://t.co/nYaplO75vX
— Jack Sweeney (@Jxck_Sweeney) February 6, 2024
Upon receiving the letters, Sweeney sought assistance from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, which forwarded his request to a group of attorneys. James Slater, a Florida lawyer specializing in First Amendment and internet speech issues, responded on Sweeney’s behalf to the Venable letter.
Slater’s response stated that Morrone had failed to identify any legal claim. Moreover, he asserted that the jet information posed “no threat” to Swift’s safety, and argued that Sweeney’s account had “engaged in protected speech that does not violate any of Ms. Swift’s legal rights.” Slater mentioned that he is yet to receive a response.
In an interview, Slater criticized the Swift attorney’s letters as “hyperbolic and unfounded,” suggesting they were sent in hopes that Sweeney would “just delete everything and do what they said.”
“This isn’t about putting a GPS tracker on someone and invading their privacy. It’s using public information to track the jet of a public figure,” he remarked. “This is their means to try to quash a PR issue and bully my client to have the bad coverage die down.”
