Elon Musk Responds to Backlash Over Impersonation Bans

Over the weekend, Elon Musk enforced existing Twitter rules against impersonating individuals and banned Kathy Griffin (among others). Predictably, Twitter users had a lot to say about it, so Musk made the rules crystal clear.
Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2022
Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2022
Much of the criticism was legitimate: to publicly declare that comedy is once again legal on Twitter and then immediately start banning comedians* is not the best look. Especially since the bans, so far, seem to pretty much only be for those impersonating Musk. Further, even if you consider the rule fair, a permanent suspension seems a bit severe. But them’s the breaks.
*Yes, the likes of Kathy Griffin and H3H3 are not funny. But society has agreed to let them pretend they are, so we all just have to kind of run with it.
INSERT SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION:
The backlash was widespread, with varying degrees of severity (and hilarity). Enjoy a sampling below:
Better get my final name change in there before the rules change. Set this shit in stone.
— Count Dankula (@CountDankulaTV) November 7, 2022
— kodiak149 (@kodiak149) November 6, 2022
Oh, and also Kathy Griffin apparently logged into her deceased mother’s account to protest her suspension, so that’s something.
Kathy Griffin, who was permanently suspended for breaking Twitter’s TOS by impersonating another person (in this case, @elonmusk), appears to be evading the ban by using her late mother’s Twitter account. https://t.co/5yX3uU4Xry
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) November 7, 2022
(In fairness, I like to think my mom would also be okay with me using her Twitter account if I ever got banned and also she was dead.)
But if there’s one thing Elon Musk is as good at as he is at making money, it’s taking a joke. BEHOLD: the no-chill snark from the world’s richest (and trolliest) man.
Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
For $8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
Welp, that’s me deceased.
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4 Comments
I really hate these people as they are so disingenuous. They were supposedly trying to point out a flaw in the upcoming system and engaged in an activity that was ALREADY against the rules and when a solution is implemented they hide behind the shield of comedy.
I thought that purposely creating an account with someone else’s name was against Twitter’s TOS to begin with. Though, never having been on Twitter I wouldn’t know for sure.
You would be correct.
“Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian”
I think Elon’s a LOT funnier than Kathy Griffin.