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Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, revealed on Monday its plans to impose stricter regulations on parody, fan, and commentary accounts, effective April 10, as reported by the BBC.
According to the revised policy, any account that impersonates another person or entity will be required to prefix its account name with the terms “fake” or “parody.” Moreover, these impersonation accounts must also feature profile pictures that are distinct from those of the individuals or organizations they seek to mimic.
The company stated that these new guidelines aim “to help users easily recognize the unaffiliated nature of parody accounts and diminish the potential for confusion or impersonation.” X has encouraged affected users to make necessary adjustments before the new rules come into effect.
This initiative comes in response to persistent complaints from users about impersonations, particularly those involving Musk himself. One user remarked, “I hope this addresses all the fake accounts pretending to be Elon Musk,” while another said, “It’s about time; I get contacted by a phony Elon account nearly every week.”
There are countless parody accounts of Elon Musk on the platform, employing various comedic and promotional strategies. Some of these accounts share memes or advertise giveaways. One notable account, boasting over a million followers, recently urged users to “like and comment” for a chance to win a Tesla, which resulted in 428,000 likes and over 200,000 comments.
In January, X had already implemented labeling for parody accounts to complement existing regulations that require impersonators to clarify their intent is for entertainment. These changes were expected to work in conjunction with the blue verification checkmark to mitigate confusion among users.
However, the effectiveness of these measures has been questioned by both critics and regulatory bodies. In July 2024, the European Union stated that verified blue accounts on X might “mislead” users, potentially breaching content laws, to which Musk responded by labeling the EU’s claims as “misinformation.”
Since his acquisition of the platform in 2022, Musk has asserted that unmarked impersonation would lead to account bans. Currently, many parody accounts include the word “parody” in brackets at the end of their usernames. Yet, if the account names are lengthy and are displayed in abbreviated form in replies or feeds—especially if the profile photos are identical—users may still be deceived.
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