Twitter users with verified accounts who changed their username to “Elon Musk” to mock the social network’s new owner have been suspended by the platform.
Actress Kathy Griffin, who has two million subscribers, is one of these Internet users. She had also replaced her profile picture with a picture of the billionaire.
a permanent suspension
The Tesla boss, who in the past has personally described himself as an “absolute defender of free speech,” tweeted on Sunday that “Twitter accounts that impersonate another person, without clearly specifying that they are is a parody, they will be permanently suspended.
The Twitter account h3h3Productions, belonging to youtuber Ethan Klein, was also banned despite being shown as a parody.
Accused of being personally involved in the decisions to ban accounts directed at him, Elon Musk responded to a tweet reporting the suspension of Kathy Griffin’s account.
Layoffs, paid certification
The comedian, whose account has not yet been reactivated, still wanted to respond to him through his late mother’s account: “I come back from the dead to tell you to free Kathy.”
Other users, including Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, joined the fray with the hashtag #FreeKathy.
Elon Musk’s first decisions after completing the $44 billion takeover of Twitter were to lay off half of the employees and announce that he now had to pay $8 a month to qualify for certification, which was previously free.
Certified users, whose authenticity was previously verified by the platform, are marked with a blue tick.
Source: BFM TV
