Twitter’s ‘Chief Twit’ Elon Musk continues to lay out the road map for the social network now under his direction and control.
On Sunday evening, Musk announced some new steps Twitter will take to “empower the voice of the people.”
“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended,” said Musk.
“Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning,” added the Twitter leader. “This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue.”
Musk adds, “Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.” He later said, “Widespread verification will democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people.”
“Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission,” continued Musk.
Verified Twitter users after this announcement that had changed their names to “Elon Musk” saw the effects of the instant ban. Comedian Kathy Griffin saw her account get banned, with Musk deadpanning with, “Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian.”
Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
Later, Griffin reactivated her dead mother’s account to get back on Twitter. Her reply to Musk just moments ago was, “I mean… you stole that joke, you asshole. People have been posting that joke for hours, you hack. Look, please do a better job running this company. It used to mean something. This is [Kathy Griffin] [by the way].”
Musk said she could get her account back by paying $8 for verification, which is said to now launch later this week instead of on Monday.
To emphasize just how serious he is about free speech, Musk later added, “My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk.”
Previously, Musk reached out privately to the account @ElonJet that tracks his plane using publicly available information, that is not easy for one to tabulate. The founder of the account tried negotiating for a bigger settlement from Musk to shut down the service.
@ElonJet’s founder, Jack Sweeney, responded to Musk by saying, “I also condemn the use of my account for tracking you down and anyone looking for you in person. Also I’m free to talk about terms of taking down the account peacefully. I just was not happy with previous terms we had discussed.”
The social network’s Birdwatch feature “aims to create a better informed world by empowering people on Twitter to collaboratively add notes to potentially misleading Tweets.”
Musk has now renamed this to Community Notes, saying “Birdwatch gives me the creeps,” in response to Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.
Dorsey called the new title the “most boring Facebook name ever,” to which Musk replied, “Not everything needs to have “bird” in the name! Too many bird groups fighting each internally other at Twitter. Angry Birds.”
Exactly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
Musk was right about the new Twitter—it’s now far more entertaining than ever before as these new changes are causing everyone on both sides to freak out.
