In this illustration, an image of Elon Musk is displayed on a computer screen and a twitter logo on a mobile phone in Ankara, Turkiye on October 6, 2022.
Muhammed Selim Korkutata | Anadolu Agency | beautiful pictures
After a number of celebrities and green-checked Twitter users changed their accounts to mimic the social network’s new owner Elon Musk, he called for a swift change to the enforcement. policy.
Musk wrote on Sunday that, in the future, Twitter will permanently suspend the accounts of impostors without warning if they are not clearly labeled a parody.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and now Twitter appeared to have changed his mind about the permanent bans and wrote:
“Go forwardany Twitter that handles impersonation without explicitly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended
Before, we issued a warning before suspending, but we’re rolling out extensive verification now so there won’t be any warnings. This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up for Twitter Blue.
Any name change will temporarily remove the verified check mark. “
In May, after agreeing to buy Twitter, Musk argued against lifetime bans and said he would reverse one on Donald Trump. Twitter banned the former president after the January 6, 2021 uprising at the US Capitol, fearing Trump’s tweets would incite more violence. Trump has said he will not return to Twitter.
Before Musk wraps up his $44 billion Twitter acquisition on October 28, the social network specified rules that users “must not impersonate an individual, group, or organization to deceive, confuse or deceive others, nor use a false identity in a way that disrupts the experience of others on Twitter.”
Previously, the company required users participating in parodies to “distinguish themselves in BOTH their account names and biographies. “
Twitter earlier said it would take any of three actions in response to impostors, including: “censor profiles”, “suspend” or “permanent suspension”. The platform would not normally be permanently banned from users’ accounts for impersonation before Musk took over.
As of Sunday night, Twitter had yet to update its terms of service to reflect Musk’s direction.
The decision of “Chief Twit,” as he jokingly calls himself, has caused controversy and unrest, in part because Musk identifies himself as a freedom of speech peremptory.
Last week, he brought down activists, including civil rights leaders, who call for advertisers stop spending on Twitter until Musk proves the company can deliver on the promises of reliability and safety under his leadership.
When Musk showed up at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters on October 27, online trolls and raid bigots social network, polluting it with a series of racist epitaphs and other hate speech. The researchers said Twitter took appropriate action in response, but should have anticipated and tried to prevent the raid.
Change verification
After that fight, Musk made drastic staff cuts at Twitter, laying off about 3,700 people from departments including firing content moderators and other safety and trust experts. The main focus for him is on redesigning the platform’s registration product and verification system.
Verification, in the form of green checks, was once reserved for public figures such as politicians and celebrities, who were most likely impersonated by bad actors. Now, Musk plans to offer a verification stamp to anyone who pays $7.99 per month for Twitter Blue, a subscription product.
The verification changes have inspired those who thought it would be more complicated than helping Twitter users find good information and authentic accounts on the platform.
The account of one of the comedians who impersonated Musk over the weekend, Kathy Griffin, was suspended on Sunday. She changed her display name to Elon Musk and her profile picture to look like his, then wrote in a tweet, “After many heated discussions with the women in her life. me, I’ve decided that it’s right to vote green for their choice (They’re also sexy women, btw.)”
The account of actor Rich Sommer, known for playing Harry Crane in AMC’s “Mad Men,” was also suspended after he changed his display name and profile picture to impersonate Musk.
Pretending to speak as Musk on Twitter, Sommer quipped on Friday, “I’m in my head. He then added more cynically, “Okay, it’s time to execute the plan. B because they’re DOING me to keep Twitter. Does anyone know of any advertisers who are, like, ‘racist’ types who are NOT REAL PEOPLE!! just advertising who ppl is, you know, curious about what it’s all about (racism). “
Twitter and Elon Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment or confirmation on whether Sommer and Griffin would be permanently banned.
Others impersonating Musk include actress Valerie Bertinelli, who on Saturday changed her display name to Elon Musk, later posting tweets urging her followers to vote for Party candidates Democracy.
Sarah Silverman, comedian, writer and host of “I Love You, America” has also changed her display name and profile picture to resemble that of Elon Musk. She then appeared to say in Musk’s voice, writing a juvenile crack, “I’m a libertarian and I have a boring breakfast every morning.”
Bertinelli changed her profile back before Twitter took any visible action on her account. She wrote on Sunday morning, “Okey-dokey, I had my fun and I think I made my point. I’m not the ‘trendy’ type of girl. Never, ever, never wanted to. Have a safe Sunday everyone! xo”
Silverman remained on the platform, only returning to use her own photo and display name after her account was locked by Twitter. In a post to the 12 million fans and followers listed there on Sunday, Silverman wrote: “1) 9 days ago, 2) yesterday 3) today. We’re happy,” along with according to three pictures.
An image reiterates a promise Musk made to his followers on October 28, writing that “Comedy is now legal on Twitter,” shortly after he bought the platform. Others showed her joking tweet and it caused a restriction.
Musk defended himself against critics, who see his new enforcement directive as going against the free speech values he espoused on Sunday. He wrote, “My pledge to free speech doesn’t even ban the account that follows my plane, even though it’s a direct risk to personal safety.”
College student Jack Sweeney created a Twitter account using publicly available data that automatically updates to show the whereabouts of Musk’s frequent flights on his private jet. Musk pressured Sweeney and even offered to pay him to take down the flight tracking device, but it still on twitter even now.
On Sunday, after calling for a ban on impersonators without the imitation label, Musk also tried to shift focus away from free speech. He wrote, “Twitter needs to be by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission.”
