Tesla critics are testing Elon Musk’s new Twitter coverage about parody accounts, and so they even pressured the CEO to alter it and ban them.

One of many first adjustments that Musk applied after buying Twitter is rolling the “verified” function, which was initially supposed to substantiate that the individual behind a selected account was the actual individual, into Twitter subscription service – after which improve the worth of that subscription service to $8 monthly.

What that change did was give everybody who has $8 the power to get the verified checkmark and make their account look extra official.

Musk’s said purpose with the change was to curb bot accounts attempting to rip-off folks since they must pay $8 monthly to look official – although the brand new income stream from one thing that was free earlier than was probably additionally a big driver of the change.

The transfer created a brand new downside although the place scammers keen to pay the $8 monthly would really get a verified account – boosting their credibility and serving to in no matter purpose that they had.

Individuals illustrated that to Musk final week by altering their accounts to make it seem like Musk’s and tweeting issues that he wouldn’t. It pressured Musk to institute a brand new rule that in case you make your account seem like another person’s, you need to put in your profile’s bio that it’s a “parody” account.

Following this new rule, a Tesla critic created a verified account that seemed like Tesla’s official account, nevertheless it had a point out that it was a parody in its bio.

It began tweeting some wild issues that made Tesla look dangerous, and among the tweets had been seen by tens of 1000’s of individuals:

Some tweets had been extra clearly not coming from Tesla than others, however the verified checkmark probably confused some folks and the account shortly gained 1000’s of followers.

It additionally shortly obtained Musk’s consideration:

Because the account was gaining traction, Musk shortly introduced a coverage change to pressure parody accounts to incorporate the truth that it’s a parody instantly of their title and never simply their bio:

Going ahead, accounts engaged in parody should embody “parody” of their title, not simply in bio

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2022

After Musk made the announcement, the pretend Tesla account was shortly suspended.

Twitter additionally suspended accounts of individuals making enjoyable of Musk in an analogous manner after introducing the brand new parody account rule.

Electrek’s Take

That is such a large number. Hopefully, not too many individuals obtained tricked by it, however you’ll be able to clearly see how this will change into an issue.

It seems to be like Musk has succeeded in limiting the variety of spam bots, however he additionally enabled them to be extra impactful.

Although over time, the impression needs to be much less because the verified tag loses worth since anybody can purchase it.

Proper now, among the most-liked tweets on Twitter are simply 1000’s and 1000’s of replies to Musk’s followers laughing at them for paying $8 to get the checkmark:

Whereas I clearly disagree with a number of what the pretend Tesla account was saying, it seems to be like they had been following the principles till Musk modified them. It doesn’t sound truthful to ban them except they attempt to rip-off folks with the account, like promoting pretend Tesla merchandise.

When shopping for Twitter, Musk introduced that you may now have enjoyable on the social media platform once more – simply not at his or Tesla’s expense it seems to be like.