Elon Musk says he won't ban the Twitter account that tracks his jet due to his commitment to free speech. He previously offered the owner $5,000 to take it down.

The account that tracks Musk's private jet will not be banned because of his free speech principles.

Jack Sweeney, a 20-year-old college student, runs an account called ElonJet that uses publicly available air-traffic data to share information about when and where a jet leaves and arrives. More than 30 jet- tracking accounts are maintained by Sweeney.

Insider's Isobel Asher Hamilton reported in January that Musk asked for advice on how to make his jet less trackable after offering Sweeney $5,000 to take down the account. Sweeney told Insider that he turned down the offer because he needed $50,000 to give it up, and that he had put a lot of effort into the account. Last month, Musk appeared to start using a program that helped block jet tracking.

Musk has been sharing updates on his plans for the platform since taking over. He said he wouldn't shut down the account.

"My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk," Musk said.

In a phone interview Sunday, Sweeney told Insider that he was "pleased" that Musk addressed his account.

If it wasn't for his stance, people would be after him for saying one thing and then banning my account. He said something and acknowledged my account.

He said that he was surprised that Musk mentioned it all. He speculated that Musk might have mentioned it to draw attention to the account, since he has been accused of endangering the billionaire before.

When Musk told Sweeney it didn't feel right to pay to have the account removed, he was open to a deal that involved taking it down.

He thanked Musk for his commitment to free speech and said that the majority of his followers were supporters. He doesn't like the use of his account to look for Musk in person.

As far as banning accounts, Musk has decided to do so for other reasons

Kathy's account appeared to have been suspended after she changed her name and photo to match Musk's. Do you want to watch activism? Don't forget to watch this. Don't forget to vote blue. There is nothing better than waking up and enjoying a fresh, steaming cup of my own urine.

Musk said that anyone who impersonates without specifying "parody" will be permanently suspended.

A request for comment about the suspended accounts was not responded to.