The cast of Elon Musk a doubt about his own statement that the comedy is now “legal” on Twitter after he suspended several accounts – including those belonging to real-life comedians Sarah Silverman and Kathy Griffin – for parodying it over the weekend.
Taking advantage of those fleeting last days before a blue check mark costs $8 a month, Griffin and Silverman changed their profile pictures and display names to match Musk’s and had a little fun. For example, Silverman ostensibly tested the courage of Musk’s beliefs by tweeting, “I’m a free speech absolutist and I eat stuff for breakfast everyday.
Griffin, meanwhile, used the bit for some pre-midterm rallies, writing, “After many heated discussions with the women in my life, I have decided that voting blue for their choice was right. (They’re hot women too, by the way.) #VoteBlueToProtectWomen.
Others who impersonated Musk – and suffered the consequences – included everyone from the writer and the former professional soccer player Chris Kluwe and journalist Christopher Hooks at Mad Men actor Rich Sommer. Sommer made a particularly vicious remark about Musk’s efforts to keep advertisers in line with his outrageously strong beliefs on free speech, joking, “Does anyone know any advertisers who are, like, sort of” in “racism NO ACTUAL RACISTS!! just people who are, you know, curious about what (racism) it’s all about.
Now, to be somewhat fair to Musk, using a verified account to impersonate another verified account was a banable offense before he took over. (Comedian Jaboukie Young-White is the undisputed master of that, once pretending to be the FBI on Martin Luther King Day and Tweeter“Just because we killed MLK doesn’t mean we can’t miss it.”) But Musk’s ostensible free-speech absolutism, combined with his ostensible love of comedy – he’s a guy who would have tried desperately to make Nathan Fielder laugh. his jokes – adds a really delicious dimension to it.
In addition to suspending the aforementioned accounts for their “crimes”, Musk highlighted some new policy points to settle the alleged problem on Sunday. “Going forward, any Twitter handle that engages in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” Musk said, “Previously we issued a warning before the suspension, but now As we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning. This will be clearly identified as a requirement to sign up for Twitter Blue. Any name changes will result in the temporary loss of the verified checkmark.”
However, it is not clear whether these rules have actually come into force or whether they will even be respected. YouTuber and podcast host Ethan Klein has earned himself a ban after changing his profile to match Musk’s despite clearly putting a “parody account” in his bio and header. It seems Musk is still learning to take a joke, especially one like Klein’s: “Ghislaine Maxwell is an extremely decent woman I had the pleasure of meeting several years ago,” Klein tweeted. “It’s a shame that she was demonized and crushed by the press. #LibreGhislaine.
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