Twitter has permanently suspended the account of actor and comic Kathy Griffin for “engaging in impersonation” after she changed her display name to Elon Musk and asked people to support Democratic candidates in the US midterm election.
A screenshot of Ms Griffin's tweet, now viral, read, “After much-spirited discussion with the females in my life. I have decided that voting blue for their choice is only right.” For the hashtag, she wrote - “Vote Blue To Protect Women.”
The suspension of Griffin's account sparked a row, with many accusing Musk of cracking down on free speech. Replying to a post, the Tesla CEO and Twitter's new boss said, “Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian.”
In a follow-up tweet, he said that Ms Griffin can get the account back if she pays $8 (the blue tick fee). “But if she really wants her account back, she can have it for $8.”
Musk also issued a warning to all users "engaging in impersonation.” “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended,” he tweeted.
“Previously, we issued a warning before the 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,” Musk said in another tweet, adding,. “Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.”
Twitter's blue tick fee has been the first major change to the platform after Elon Musk took over. On Saturday, the microblogging platform rolled out the $8 blue tick verification service. The latest update is currently available only on iOS devices in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
