Elon Musk’s X to clamp down on parody accounts
X is bringing in stricter guidelines round parody accounts.
From 10 April, accounts which impersonate one other consumer or particular person should use key phrases resembling “faux” or “parody” at the beginning of their account names.
The platform can even require parody account holders to make use of totally different photos to the X accounts belonging to these they search to characterize.
Some customers have complained about confusion attributable to parody accounts on the platform, resembling these impersonating its proprietor Elon Musk.
“These adjustments are designed to assist customers higher perceive the unaffiliated nature of PCF accounts and cut back the danger of confusion or impersonation,” the corporate stated in a publish on Saturday.
It inspired affected accounts to replace their profiles by the enforcement date.
The adjustments can even apply for fan and commentary accounts, it stated.
“Hopefully this consists of all of the 1000’s of faux variations of Elon Musk accounts,” wrote one consumer in response to X’s publish about its coverage replace.
“About time, I get a faux Elon account contacting me virtually as soon as every week,” wrote one other.
There are a selection of parody accounts for the platform’s proprietor, figuring out themselves as impersonations in varied methods.
Posts considered by the BBC from Elon Musk parody accounts ranged from memes and jokes, to selling cryptocurrency and automobile giveaways.
A latest publish by one Elon Musk parody account, which has a couple of million followers, advised customers to “like and remark” for the possibility to win a Tesla.
The publish has obtained 428,000 likes and greater than 200,000 replies.
X rolled out labels for parody accounts in January – constructing on its guidelines requiring customers participating in impersonation for the aim of leisure to establish themselves as such.
These, and the platform’s blue tick verification system, have been cited as instruments to stop deceptive impersonation whereas permitting speech and dialogue.
However the effectiveness of such measures have been disputed.
The EU stated in July 2024 that the blue ticks breached its on-line content material guidelines, with its “verified” blue tick accounts having the potential to “deceive” customers.
Musk referred to as the EU’s guidelines “misinformation”, in response.
Following his takeover in November 2022, the Tesla chief govt stated accounts participating in unlabelled impersonation could be banned.
Many parody accounts on X establish their parody nature in brackets on the finish of consumer names, however this isn’t a fool-proof measure.
If a parody account’s identify is especially lengthy, and solely a shortened model seems in feeds or replies, customers can unwittingly duped – particularly if the account’s picture matches that of the actual particular person.
