Elon Musk’s Twitter control has another casualty: comedian Kathy Griffin. Griffin changed her Twitter profile name to Elon Musk, and the profile was soon banned from the micro-blogging site.
What Happened to Griffin’s Profile
Though the Twitter handle of Kathy Griffin, 62, showed the name @kathygriffin, the monicker beside the blue tick, which shows the account is verified and now charges $8 per month, showed the name of Musk. It violated the company policy regarding impersonation, so Griffin’s account was suspended.
What Musk Said
Within weeks of legally acquiring Twitter for $44 billion, the world’s richest man said he would take his role as Chief Tweet seriously, and since then, Elon Musk has started addressing fake accounts.
Musk made it clear on Sunday night in a statement that impersonation will lead to permanent suspension of a Twitter handle if it is not specified that impersonation is for parody.
Musk tweeted that there had been notifications before suspension earlier, but from now on, Twitter officials will send no warning, as widespread verification is being rolled out already. Twitter Blue sign-up will have it as one of the conditions, added Musk. He also warned via his tweets that a change of profile name will lead to the temporary removal of the blue checkmark.
Controversies Go on
Musk’s Twitter takeover has seen massive criticisms, and it intensified when the SpaceX founder said Twitter would charge $8 monthly for providing verified accounts.
Critics feared getting a blue checkmark would be easier with this monthly subscription service, and identifying authentic information would be more challenging than ever.
Generally, politicians, government offices, sports personnel, journalists, and eminent artists can have access to the blue tick beside their Twitter profile name to show that the account is verified.
After Musk tweeted his plans with the bluetick, many celebrities promptly showed their disagreement with the system.
Some other celebrities left the social media platform earlier when Musk purchased Twitter.
