Parody Accounts To Be Clamped Down On Elon Musk’s X

X, formerly Twitter, is enforcing more stringent guidelines for parody accounts. Parody accounts to be clamped down on Elon Musk’s X platform.

Accounts that impersonate another user or person must begin their names with key terms like “fake” or “parody” from April 10.

Users of parody accounts will also be required by the site to utilize photos that differ from those of the X accounts of the people they are trying to represent. The platform’s spoof profiles, like those that mimic its owner Elon Musk, have confused some users, according to several complaints.

The company said: “These changes are designed to help users better understand the unaffiliated nature of PCF accounts and reduce the risk of confusion or impersonation,”

By the enforcement date, it urged impacted accounts to update their profiles. According to the statement, fan and commentary accounts will also be affected.

There are many parody accounts for Elon Musk, identifying themselves as impersonations in various ways. Most of these accounts’ posts range from memes and jokes, to advertising car giveaways and cryptocurrencies.

One Elon Musk parody account with over a million followers recently posted a message asking people to “like and comment” in order to enter to win a Tesla.

Over 200,000 people have responded to the post, and it has garnered 428,000 likes.

X expanded its regulations requiring users who impersonate for amusement purposes to identify themselves as such in January by introducing labels for parody accounts.

These, along with the platform’s blue tick authentication system, have been mentioned as techniques to stop deceptive mimicry while permitting conversation and speaking.

However, the efficacy of these methods has been called into question.

In July 2024, the EU declared that the blue ticks had violated its regulations governing online content, citing the possibility that their “verified” blue tick accounts may “deceive” people. “Misinformation” is how Musk responded to the EU’s regulations.

After taking over in November 2022, the CEO of Tesla declared that accounts that engaged in unlabeled impersonation would be prohibited.

Although many X parody accounts indicate that they are parodies by placing brackets after user names, this is not always a reliable method.

When a parody account’s name is very long and only a condensed version shows up in feeds or answers, users may be unintentionally tricked, especially if the account’s image is identical to the real one.