Elon Musk’s “comedy is now legal” claim 24 hours after his Twitter takeover on October 28 has not aged well. When it comes to jokes about the new Twitter CEO, verified accounts that changed their names to “Elon Musk” have been suspended over the weekend.
Comedy is now legal on Twitter
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Musk, 51, addressed the verified impersonator accounts with a Twitter thread on Sunday (November 6) evening. “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” Musk wrote. “Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning,” Musk said in another tweet. “This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue.” He concluded his thread by saying, “Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.”
Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2022
“Widespread verification will democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people,” Musk said in a tweet after the thread. “My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,” Musk wrote.
One Twitter user reported on the news that comedian Kathy Griffin was suspended for impersonating Elon Musk, to which the Tesla CEO responded, “Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian.” He then cheekily added in two separate tweets: “But if she really wants her account back, she can have it. For $8.”
Kathy Griffin then tweeted from her late mother’s Twitter, with the name Elon Musk today (November 7)writing, “Elon, this is Maggie contacting you from the spirit world tell u…you’re a douchebag. This is not parody. This is the actual ghost of Kathy Griffin’s boxed wine loving mother saying I’m gonna get tipsy & throw my bingo cards at you! NOT A PARODY.
To the moon, a–hole. #FreeKathy.” The 62-year-old comedian’s page was suspended after she impersonated the social media platform’s new CEO and mocked him in a tweet.
Musk then wrote a tweet that linked out to Twitter’s current rules, which “will evolve over time.” Twitter rolled out a new update on Saturday for the app, highlighting its new paid verification system, but the company has since decided to delay its rollout until after the midterm elections, per The New York Times.
Other high-profile accounts took to the platform with jokes about Musk. See them below:
