The new owner of Twitter announced in early November that it will charge $8 to offer the verification badge to any user. From there, some people who already have the blue symbol decided to prove how complex this type of authentication is. Therefore, many changed their names to “Elon Musk” and made curious posts, something that did not please the real Elon Musk.
After finalizing the purchase of the bird’s social network, the Tesla CEO created a post claiming to be bringing “power back to the people”. In other words, he would be guaranteeing freedom of expression for any user of the platform.
However, this “freedom” did not last long.
A number of people, from comedians to sports personalities, decided to change their names to “Elon Musk” and add a befitting profile picture. Because they had the verified seal, it became more difficult for many followers to notice that it wasn’t really the famous businessman.
It didn’t take long for this to bother the real Elon Musk.
In the words of the CEO:
Going forward, any impersonation on Twitter without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended..
He continues the tweets by saying that before, the platform would give a warning before suspension, but as they are now offering the verification badge more easily, no warning will be given. Finally, Musk points out that any name change on verified accounts will result in the temporary loss of the badge.
Of course, the profiles that made the pranks were suspended.
Twitter changes rules ahead of moderation board formation
Tesla’s CEO had stated that no major decisions on the content on the platform would be taken before the formation of a board that would vote on this type of matter. However, the new rule on the impersonation of individuals and the verified seal was defined solely by him.
Currently, Twitter’s terms of service have rules about “parody, comment and fan accounts” profiles. However, the new rules that Elon Musk released are not yet in the standard list that the user must read before joining the social network.
This makes the situation even more curious, as the founder of SpaceX had posted a post with the words: “Legalize comedy”. Furthermore, he called himself a “free speech absolutist”.
However, after a few jokes with his name and face, he decided that comedy is only cool when he finds it funny.
Buying a Verification Seal Should Still Give You a Headache
Previously, acquiring the desired Twitter Verified badge was something that the user achieved. In addition to proving that the person actually owned the profile, the focus was on giving followers a sense of credibility for following the real individual.
With news announced by the new owner, anyone can pay for the famous symbol. Thus, it is not difficult to understand that the idea of credibility gets more complicated from there.
Even the jokes with parody accounts start to have that “back foot”, because if someone pays to be verified, how will the platform distinguish the real one among thousands of accounts?
There is even a danger involved in this, as a user with a grudge can create a profile using a third party’s name, pay to have the blue symbol and greatly disrupt the person’s life.
Jokes aside, Twitter could become an even more problematic social network in the near future.
With information: The Verge.
https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/2022/11/07/elon-musk-nao-quer-que-verificados-usem-o-nome-elon-musk-no-twitter/