Twitter will permanently ban 'impersonators', says Elon Musk

After promising to make Twitter a bastion of “free speech,” its new owner Elon Musk announced a new policy that will remove accounts engaging in “impersonation” - an act of pretending to be another person with intent to mislead or deceive - that comedians and others have been using to humorously protest the billionaire’s takeover of the social network in recent days. 

Musk tweeted: “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended.” He added that there would be “no warning” before suspensions are imposed and that any name change would result in people losing their blue tick – which verifies who they are. 

Celebrities such as Kathy Griffin, Sarah Silverman, and Mad Men star Rich Sommer quickly had their accounts removed for changing their usernames and photos to match Musk’s. Griffin, for example, had tweeted about the US midterm elections under Musk’s name, with one tweet saying: “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.) #VoteBlueToProtectWomen”.

Musk, meanwhile, tweeted about the account ban, saying Griffin had been removed for “impersonating a comedian” but could have her account back for $8. In other words, the parody rule would be a condition for signing up to the platform’s revamped subscription service, Twitter Blue, which allows users to edit and undo their tweets, upload videos in 1080p, and see what articles are being shared the most in their network.   

The parody ban apparently contradicts Musk’s own statement that no “major content decisions” would occur before the formation of “a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints.” 

Also, in May, Musk argued that no user should face a lifetime suspension, and said that he would reverse the ban and reinstate the account of former President Donald Trump. Twitter had banned the former president in the wake of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, fearing Trump’s tweets would incite further violence. 

Before Musk closed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on October 28, the social network’s rules specified that users, engaged in parody should, “distinguish themselves in both their account name and bio”. 

Twitter previously said it would take any of three actions in response to impersonators, including: “profile moderation,” “temporary suspension,” or a “permanent suspension.” The platform would not usually retort to a permanent ban of a user’s account for impersonation prior to Musk’s takeover. However, the billionaire claimed that Twitter “needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission. Widespread verification will democratise journalism and empower the voice of the people” and hence the decision.