Elon Musk Says Twitter Will Permanently Suspend 'Parody' Accounts, Company Asks Laid Off Workers to Return

Elon Musk threatened to permanently suspend any account that doesn't clearly identify itself as a "parody” in just the latest sign of change at the company.

An image of Elon Musk is displayed on a computer screen and the logo of Twitter.
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In this photo illustration, the image of Elon Musk is displayed on a computer screen and the logo of twitter on a mobile phone.

An image of Elon Musk is displayed on a computer screen and the logo of Twitter.

Twitter seems to be in disarray ever since Elon Musktook over as CEO late last month.

Musk seems to backtracking after declaring late last month that “comedy is now legal on Twitter.” 

 

Comedy is now legal on Twitter

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022

It took less than two weeks, and Musk doesn’t appear to be laughing anymore, as he has now threatened to “permanently suspend” anyone who impersonates another person without identifying themselves as a “parody” account. 

 

How it started. How it’s going. pic.twitter.com/OryM7cPQD0

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) November 6, 2022

His war on impersonators comes after people have been impersonating him on the platform. Musk recently said Twitter users must pay $7.99 per month for a verification check mark, without detailing how the platform would determine the difference between the actual person and the bad actor. Musk said that if someone with a paid verified account is caught impersonating someone else, their profile will be suspended and their money will be pocketed. 

Great question. Twitter will suspend the account attempting impersonation and keep the money!

So if scammers want to do this a million times, that’s just a whole bunch of free money. pic.twitter.com/QUrxqb59I0

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 5, 2022

Comedian Kathy Griffin had her account suspended after she participated in a trend where people changed their handle to “Elon Musk.” 

BREAKING: @KathyGriffin has been permanently suspended from Twitter for impersonating @ElonMusk pic.twitter.com/ust86DZHKj

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 6, 2022

Food Network chef Valerie Bertinelli also participated in the Twitter handle trend, but eventually reverted back to her actual name.

Okey-dokey I’ve had my fun and I think I made my point. 😬 I’m just not a ‘trending’ kind of gal. Never have been, never want to be.
Have a safe Sunday everyone! xo 🤍

— valerie bertinelli (@Wolfiesmom) November 6, 2022

Meanwhile, after Musk laid off 3,700 employees, slashing the company’s workforce by about half, there seems to be an about-face.

The layoffs were met with a class-action lawsuit which argued that such a move violated the WARN, or federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The law requires that big companies provide at least a 60-day window before moving forward with sweeping job cuts. 

Bloomberg reports some of those workers who were fired are now being asked to return because their dismissal occurred by mistake.

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