Kathy Griffin was banned from Twitter a few days ago because she changed the name of her verified account to Elon Musk. With her return to the network, the US comedian is now provoking the new Twitter boss again. Because their blockade is far from over.
After Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, user protests against the Tesla founder’s new advances are increasing. Many are concerned that hate speech and other inappropriate content will now be increasingly allowed on the platform. The tech billionaire had announced that it would also restore profiles that had previously been blocked for spreading fake news or inciting violence – including the account of ex-US President Donald Trump – for more “freedom of expression”.
In response, a number of users have been changing their display name for the past few days, posing as the new Twitter owner. But when it comes to his own person, Musk obviously doesn’t take a joke: On Sunday he announced in a tweet that he would reintroduce the permanent bans he actually wanted to abolish. “Going forward, all Twitter handles posing as impersonators without clearly identifying them as ‘parody’ will be permanently banned,” it said.
The first celebrity to be hit by this ban is US comedian Kathy Griffin. She too had changed her Twitter handle to Elon Musk in protest. Musk later added that the 62-year-old could only get her access back for a fee of $8, a reference to his push to launch a verified Twitter subscription at that price.
With a simple trick, however, the 62-year-old has now managed to bypass the blockade without payment: On Monday, she quickly logged into the Twitter account of her mother Maggie Griffin, who died in 2020. “I’m back from the grave to say…
When a user commented that Griffin’s use of someone else’s account was violating the very rule that caused her ban in the first place, Elon Musk snapped: “Actually, she was suspended for posing as a comedian.” Griffin didn’t let that sit down either. Musk was an “asshole” who “stole” that joke, she wrote. “People have been posting that joke for hours, writer. Please run this company better. It used to mean something.”
Kathy Griffin’s ban has now sparked another wave of protests. Many Twitter users remind the new boss of his own words. A user shared one of his tweets from October 28th. In it Musk had written: “Comedy is now legal on Twitter”. Another wondered if the ban was aimed at all imitations or just those affecting Musk. Elsewhere it was pointed out that accounts that had written “parody” next to the changed display name had also been blocked. “Pretty funny watching you figure out what verification is for in real time,” tweeted writer James Felton sardonically.
In order to highlight the dangers that have allegedly been lurking on Twitter since Musk’s takeover, deliberately false reports about Donald Trump’s supposed death have also been increasing since the beginning of November. The hashtag, for example, also trended for a short time
Musk is also experiencing headwind from former Twitter co-founders such as Jack Dorsey. When he outlined a new vision for Twitter on Sunday evening, according to which the service should “become the most accurate information source in the world”, Dorsey countered critically: “Exactly for whom?”
