Elon Musk, the new CEO of Twitter, criticized comedian Kathy Griffin on Sunday evening after she was permanently banned from the network for breaking policy about impersonation.
Griffin’s account was briefly suspended after she impersonated Musk by altering her profile photo to his photo and changing her user name to “Elon Musk,” despite her handle remaining “@kathygriffin.”
Musk replied to a Twitter account that announced Griffin had been banned for impersonating him by first mocking her and then claiming he would reinstate her on the platform.
“Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian,” Musk tweeted. “But if she really wants her account back, she can have it.”
Musk then clarified that she will be charged $8 to use the new Twitter Blue.
Musk emphasized in a series of tweets around the time Griffin was suspended that impersonating other persons from a verified account will no longer be tolerated.
“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” Musk tweeted. “Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning.”
“This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue,” Musk continued. “Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.”
“Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world,” Musk later added. “That’s our mission.”
Musk also stated that blocking accounts for impersonation does not violate his beliefs about free expression. “My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,” Musk tweeted.
Twitter has strict prohibitions against impersonating other individuals. The company’s terms of service state that “you may not impersonate persons, groups, or organizations in order to mislead, confuse, or deceive others, nor utilize a fake identity in a manner that disrupts the experience of others on Twitter.”
The corporation allows exceptions for parody accounts, but the accounts must explicitly identify that they are parody and not the entity they are impersonating.
“If we determine a profile features another’s image, we will also evaluate the context in which the image is used,” the terms of service state. “We are most likely to take action if an account falsely claims to be the entity portrayed in the profile photo, as with impersonation or fake accounts.”