Musk says the point of rooting out impersonators is to make Twitter “by far the most accurate source of information around the world.”
Twitter’s new overlord has wasted no time reshaping the social media platform to fit his vision. In his first few days at the helm, Elon Musk fired nearly half of the company’s staff (some reportedly by mistake), began charging for that coveted blue check, and banished some high-profile figures from the site.
Earlier this week, the billionaire announced that users “engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.” Joke accounts are a gag that’s been played for yucks since the site’s inception (remember fake Chuck Norris or the slew of Donald Trump accounts poking fun at the former president?) So when Musk abruptly unveiled the new policy, some users were eager to test its limits…many by taking aim at Twitter’s new owner.
Why was Kathy Griffin suspended from Twitter?
The comedian Kathy Griffin was one of the first celebs to lose her tweeting privileges. The celeb, who made headlines in 2017 for posing with a bloodied effigy of Trump’s severed head, changed her name and photo to match Musk’s profile and began firing off tweets about the midterms.
“After much spirited discussion with the females in my life, I’ve decided that voting blue for their choice is only right (They’re also sexy females, btw),” one of her posts read.
Musk shot back, joking that Griffin had actually been suspended for “impersonating a comedian.”
“But if she really wants her account back, she can have it,” he wrote in a string of tweets. “For $8.”
Griffin later maneuvered her way back on the site by logging into her late mother’s account to continue trolling Musk. Maggie Griffin, who became a fan favorite on the comedian’s reality show My Life on the D-List, died in 2020.
“Elon, this is Maggie contacting you from the spirit world,” Griffin tweeted. “This is not parody. This is the actual ghost of Kathy Griffin’s boxed wine loving mother saying I’m gonna get tipsy & throw my bingo cards on you!”
Who else was suspended from Twitter?
Others followed suit. The comedian Sarah Silverman briefly changed her name and photo to masquerade as Musk and had her account temporarily locked, while Mad Men star Richard Sommer and former pro-NFL player and author Chris Kluwe were also tossed off the app.
Many sniff irony in the crackdown. Musk has long declared himself a “free-speech absolutist” and after completing his $44 billion acquisition of the company, tweeted “comedy is now legal on Twitter.” But censoring comedians who have decided to make Musk the butt of a joke seems to conflict with this ethos.
And Twitter still seems to be working out some of the kinks when it comes to its impersonation policy. Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe appears to have had his Twitter profile locked for parodying Weird Al Yankovic. However, Radcliffe is playing Yankovic (himself, a master of parody) in an upcoming movie — meaning the company may have misfired in locking the actor’s account.
Musk says the point of rooting out impersonators is to make Twitter “by far the most accurate source of information around the world.” He also insists that his paid verification policy is intended to “democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people.” But critics have warned that it could lead to the rapid spread of misinformation and hate speech on the app.
That’s led a growing number of prominent users to leave the platform. The screenwriter and producer Shonda Rhimes and the author Stephen King both made their Twitter exits last week. The singers Toni Braxton and Sara Bareilles have also said they’re leaving the platform for good.
