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LOOK: College Student Tracking Taylor Swift’s Planes Responds in Legal Letter
The lawyer for a college student who runs social media accounts to track the private jet of Taylor Swift and other celebrities has spoken out to defend his client.
In an interview with “Good Morning America” that aired Wednesday, James Slater of Slater Legal PLLC, who represents Jack Sweeney, a student at the University of Central Florida, said his client is “not going to give in” to the cease and desist letter. which he received from the singer’s lawyers last December.
MORE: Jet’s tracking account gave Taylor Swift’s stalkers a ‘roadmap to carry out their plans,’ lawyer says in cease-and-desist letter
“This is just another thread in an effort by a rich and powerful person to try to silence public criticism and free speech,” Slater added.
In the letter to Sweeney, Swift’s lawyer, Katie Morrone, wrote: “You are basically providing people who are trying to harm you physically, or with nefarious or violent intentions, a road map for carrying out their plans” by sharing. ‘live’ updates on their fate.” and the exact time” when the singer will arrive at a certain place.
Morrone also argued that the following accounts that Meta, which is the parent company of Instagram and Threads, have since removed amounted to “stalking and harassing behavior” that “poses an imminent threat to the safety and well-being of our Client.” “. adding that the accounts enable stalkers and increase the risk Swift faces every day.
Speaking to “GMA,” Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington, offered his opinion on the legal situation, saying he sees “no underlying cause of action that Swift’s legal team can pursue against this individual.” ”
“Is it the right thing to do? I think it’s a matter of public opinion. It’s a matter of morality,” he continued. “But I don’t see how it violates any civil or criminal law.”
Calo also said that historically the FAA makes flight information available for two reasons:
“First of all, to track safety performance, as well as to have the best chance of finding a plane in case it goes down, in a very rare case, when there was a failure… And the other “It would be for liability reasons.” He explained.
MORE: Taylor Swift Reveals Tracklist and Collaborators for ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
On Monday, Sweeney shared the letter her lawyer wrote in response to the legal threat from Swift’s team at X, formerly known as Twitter.
Along with the letter, Sweeney began the post by referencing Swift’s hit song “Look What You Made Me Do” from the singer’s 2017 album, “Reputation.”
“Simply put, there is nothing illegal about (Sweeney’s) use of publicly accessible information to track private planes, including those used by public figures like Taylor Swift,” Slater wrote in part.
“The @taylorswiftjets account engages in protected speech that does not violate any of Ms. Swift’s legal rights,” he added. “Your letter from her makes this clear by not identifying any legal claims.”
Slater explained that Morrone flirted “with asserting a harassment claim under a California law” in the cease-and-desist letter with language that defines a harasser as someone who makes a “credible threat” against the victim.
“Our clients have never threatened Ms. Swift and their letter does not suggest that they have,” Slater said. “Our clients’ website only provides the location of private aircraft using publicly available information. That information does not pose any threat to Ms. Swift’s safety.”
Discussing the intent of the letter he wrote in response to Swift’s legal threat to his client, Slater told “GMA”: “We really wanted to make it clear that there is no legal claim here, that this is just public information, that anyone has the right.” and access capacity, and that it is not being used in a harmful way.
“This is him tracking planes. And there’s a purpose,” he continued. “These planes are emitting an enormous amount of carbon emissions.”
Sweeney has since switched to posting Swift’s information on a 24-hour delay and is no longer doing so in real time.
ABC News has reached out to Swift’s team for comment on the response they received from Sweeney’s attorney.
However, earlier this month, a spokesperson for Swift told ABC News in a statement about the case, writing: “We cannot comment on any ongoing police investigation, but we can confirm that the timing of the stalkers’ suggestion of a connection. Your posts tell you exactly when and where.” She would be.”
This isn’t the first time Sweeney has gotten in trouble for tracking flights. In 2022, his then Twitter account “@Elonjet” was suspended for monitoring Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk’s plane in real time.