'Say parody in name', orders Musk amid rise in verified impersonator accounts on Twitter
There has been a sharp uptick in parody accounts getting blue tick
Elon Musk is fighting back rise of impersonator accounts in Twitter, ordering that such handles should have the word 'parody' in them, not just in the bios.
Musk's latest tweet in this regard came as Twitter’s trust and safety team is grappling with a surge of impersonator accounts after the “Chief Twit” revamped the microblogging site’s verification system.
In an effort to shore up the dwindling revenues, Musk introduced a paid Twitter Blue service for $8 a month. Unlike the past when only public figures, like government, celebrities and businessmen, could get their accounts verified, the new subscription model allowed anyone to get a blue tick.
But the revamped verification process paved the way for people creating accounts pretending to be major brands and politicians, fooling users and potentially jeopardising Twitter’s reputation.
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Recently, there has been a sharp uptick in accounts impersonatingcelebrities by changing the name on their account and also getting a blue tick by paying for the services.
For instance, Twitter user @nlntendodoofus changed the account name to 'Nintendo of America' and was still able to get a blue tick to make it look like a verified official account.
Before being suspended, the fake Nintendo account tweeted an image of the Japanese firm's mascot Mario with its middle finger up.
In another case, a parody account of NBA star LeBron James claimed that the basketball player was “officially requesting a trade” from his current side LA Lakers to another team.
Another account deceived users into thinking that it was former US president Donald Trump tweeting, “This is why Elon Musk's plan doesn't work.”
Addressing the matter, Elon Musk announced a slew of measures to clamp down on fake accounts.
“Going forward, accounts engaged in parody must include ‘parody’ in their name, not just in bio,” he said.
“To be more precise, accounts doing parody impersonations. Basically, tricking people is not ok.”
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