Twitter: Elon Musk says verified accounts who impersonate others will be banned

Elon Musk has said verified accounts on Twitter which change their name to impersonate others will be permanently banned from the site.

It comes after several celebrities in the US changed their Twitter name to “Elon Musk” and posted messages parodying the site’s new owner before their accounts were locked or suspended.

Over the weekend, Twitter said it would allow anyone to get a verified blue badge on the platform simply by signing up to the Twitter Blue subscription service and paying a monthly fee – a move criticised by some over fears it would allow any account to appear legitimate and spread abuse or misinformation more easily.

Mr Musk has said the change would bring “power to the people”. But US comedians including Sarah Silverman and Kathy Griffin were among those who changed the names on their already verified Twitter accounts to “Elon Musk” to highlight user concerns about how the identity of those behind verified accounts would be confirmed under the new policy.

The Twitter social media app displaying a tweet by Elon Musk on a mobile phone, as Elon Musk has said verified accounts on Twitter which change their name to impersonate others will be permanently banned from the site. Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire

Both accounts were then either temporarily locked or suspended by the platform.

Mr Musk said: “Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.

“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.

“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.”

Critics have been quick to point out Mr Musk’s stance has changed sharply in just a few days – when he tweeted “comedy is now legal on Twitter” shortly after completing his takeover, and vowing to allow more free speech on the site.

The Tesla owner had also previously that no content moderation rule changes would be implemented until a new content moderation council the company was forming had met and discussed policy plans for the platform.

The aggressive stance from Mr Musk comes as experts separately warned Twitter was in “real and present danger” from extremism and hate – with the Dover bomber the latest to be linked to the platform.

A man said to be a prolific user of the social media site attacked an immigration centre in Dover, Kent, with crude incendiary devices before he was found dead.

On Saturday, counter-terrorism police confirmed 66-year-old Andrew Leak, from High Wycombe, had been motivated by extreme right-wing terrorist ideology.

The UK’s leading specialist in this area, Professor Matthew Feldman, had predicted perceived growing social and political crises in Britain this autumn and winter would likely lead to a rise in far-right political violence.

He said: “The disgusting Dover attack bears out what I was saying only last week – desperate times can make people do desperately horrible things.”

Sunder Katwala, director of independent think-tank British Future, raised concern that not only had material posted by the group been shared by Leak, it had since sought to divert blame for his terrorist act.

He said: “They were tweeting to say that they didn’t blame this disturbed man, they blamed the Government, ‘the left’ and the refugees for the fire bombing. That sounds to me like mitigation, condoning terrorism.”

He said the refusal to remove the account, which has some 14,000 followers, showed Twitter had failed to implement changes to the rules promised in Parliament over a year ago in the wake of racist abuse hurled at England footballers.