Following a series of moves to form new policy, Twitter has suspended the account of comedian Kathy Griffin after she used the platform to impersonate Elon Musk, the company’s new owner.
According to a tweet published by Musk on Sunday, anyone who uses their Twitter account to impersonate another person will be permanently banned from the platform.
“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” Musk wrote. “Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning.”
Why did Kathy Griffin impersonate Elon Musk?
Griffin, along with various other prominent users, changed their online names to “Elon Musk” and began tweeting satirical commentary on Twitter’s new paid verification feature available through Twitter Blue, CNN reported. According to the outlet, Griffin sought to spotlight how easy it would be for users who paid for verification to abuse their authentication.
The paid verification feature was initiated on Saturday but was quickly halted, with its rollout being delayed until after the midterm elections, according to the company.
The feature, which has stirred controversy online since Musk’s takeover, allows anyone to receive verification after signing up for an $8 per month subscription. Many users expressed concerns of bad actors paying for authentication and then using their verification to spread misinformation.
How will Twitter combat ‘bad actors’?
Twitter’s newest version of policy now states that any account, satirical or not, that impersonates another person is subject to suspension.
“You may not impersonate individuals, groups, or organizations to mislead, confuse, or deceive others, nor use a fake identity in a manner that disrupts the experience of others on Twitter,” the company stated. “An account’s identity is deceptive under this policy if it uses false profile information to represent itself as a person or entity that is not associated with the account owner, such that it may mislead others who use Twitter.”
What about parody and fan accounts?
However, the platform will allow some wiggle room for fan, commentary and parody accounts.
“Under this policy, a parody, commentary, or fan account is an account that depicts another person, group, or organization in their profile to discuss, satirize, or share information about that entity,” the company’s policy states.
Those accounts are encouraged to clearly indicate to users that they are not affiliated with the individual, business or organization they are mimicking.
“To avoid confusing others about an account’s affiliation, parody, commentary, and fan accounts must distinguish themselves in both their account name and bio,” Twitter policy states.
According to the company, language that users can use to avoid suspension and permanent bans include but not limited to “parody,” “fake,” “fan,” or “commentary.”
