Elon Musk, who recently purchased Twitter for a cool $44 billion, has begun addressing “parody” accounts, many of which are trying to pretend that they are him.
“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended,” Musk tweeted Sunday evening.
Musk’s tweet had more than 112,000 likes and 14,000 retweets within the first 30 minutes of his post.
His post comes on the heels of announcing he will charge $8 per month for verified blue check marks for Twitter users.
Comedian Kathy Griffin has reportedly been suspended from Twitter already. According to her account, Twitter stated: “Account suspendedTwitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules.
(Note: Griffin’s account was disabled to copy and paste links from her page, so here are some other links).
Musk followed up his tweet by saying, “Widespread verification will democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people.”
That stirred even more ire on the social platform, which could be the best form of advertising.
Musk went on to tweet that banning others from social media platforms like Twitter were for a “personal safety risk.”
This activity reportedly began happening late last week when verified users, or those with a blue check mark, suddenly temporarily changed their names to Elon Musk.
Former NFL player Chris Kluwe and podcaster Matt Helgeson were among those who saw on Friday evening that their accounts had been “temporarily restricted.” Both of their Twitter feeds, which seemingly mocked Musk, were still accessible at the time by clicking through a link.
“There is nothing better than waking up and enjoying a fresh, steaming cup of my own urine,” Kluwe tweeted i the disguise of Musk on Friday. “Such a tangy way to start the day, and it’s scientifically proven to help brain cells grow. If you want to be like me, drink your pee.”
Helgeson took a jab at Musk, supposedly threatening to auto loop a Steely Dan song when you’re on the app or website.
“Big week at Twitter, the team is working hard on new features,” Helgeson’s account read, posing as Musk. “We’re currently working on having Steely Dan’s ‘Two Against Nature’ autoplay when you are on the site or app, can’t wait for you to hear it.”
Newsweek reached out to Twitter for comment.