Elon Musk has promised that Twitter will be the social network for free speech after its takeover. However, the billionaire quickly experiences the limits. When a famous comedian made fun of him, he decided to ban unreported parody accounts.
The takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk is gradually turning into a total fiasco. The billionaire had promised to make the network the nerve center of freedom of expression. However, the limits of this sweet dream were very quickly reached and now, Musk says he won’t let parody accounts proliferate if not marked as is.
The crux of the problem is obviously the new verification system that Musk is trying to put in place. A person who pays $8 a month could impersonate anyone, with the small blue dot to “legitimize” it. the chief tweet learned it the hard way.
Elon Musk revises his identity theft policy
Elon Musk does not seem to really take the measure of the changes he wants to bring to his network, and American comedian Kathy Griffin proved it to him in a tweet. Known for her outbursts, the actress modified her Twitter account (certified), changing her name and her photo to imitate that of Musk. The sanction was not long in coming: his account was suspended. Many other personalities used the same process to demonstrate the flaws of this new system, and met the same fate. This is the case of Jeph Jacques, an American cartoonist who also saw his account deactivated.
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In the face of this flood of mockery, Elon Musk finally backtracked on identity theft. In a tweet (obviously), he announced that any account impersonating someone else without mentioning “parody” would be banned immediately, without warning. Those who have Twitter Blue and change their account name will lose verification for a period of time to verify that everything is in order.
Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2022
In short, Musk is starting to realize the problems he will have to face in the future. As a reminder, he considers that Twitter is not profitable enough and therefore seeks to make users pay for the blue dot. No more verification will be required, it will suffice to pay 8 dollars per month to benefit from it.
In another tweet, Musk says that he will not ban the account that tracks his air travel. An account… totally legal that doesn’t break any law or Twitter rules. Sir is too good.
My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022