Several celebrities were suspended by Twitter on Sunday and Monday after they impersonated new owner Elon Musk, who simultaneously issued a warning that impersonations of other users is prohibited unless they clearly state it’s a parody.
Actress Valerie Bertinelli had similarly appropriated Musk’s screen name—posting a series of tweets in support of Democratic candidates on Saturday before switching back to her true name. “Okey-dokey. I’ve had fun and I think I made my point,” she wrote afterward.
Before the stunt, Bertinelli claimed the original purpose of the blue verification checkmark was to be granted free of charge to people whose identity Twitter employees had confirmed; with journalists accounting for a big portion of recipients. “It simply meant your identity was verified. Scammers would have a harder time impersonating you,” Bertinelli noted.
“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,” he wrote.
It’s not confirmed if Klein or Griffin were suspended for impersonating Musk. The Epoch Times has contacted Twitter for comment.
Musk joked in response to another user that Griffin “was suspended for impersonating a comedian.”
“But if she really wants her account back, she can have it ... for 8$,” Musk wrote, referring to last week’s plan to charge verified users $8 to keep their status on the platform.
In the meantime, some companies have paused advertising on the platform out of concern it could become more unruly under Musk, according to a Twitter post from the new owner. Musk wrote last Friday, meanwhile, that there was no choice but to cut jobs “when the company is losing over $4M/day.” He did not provide details on the daily losses at Twitter and said employees who lost their jobs were offered three months’ pay as severance.
