Kathy Griffin was the latest casualty in Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover as the comedian’s account was suspended Sunday.
Griffin, 62, changed her profile name to Musk, and appeared to be promptly banned from the social media site.
Despite her handle showing her own @kathygriffin name, the moniker by her blue checkmark said “Elon Musk” — which goes against the company policy against impersonation.
The SpaceX founder indicated he was taking his “Chief Tweet” role seriously as he addressed fake accounts just weeks after officially acquiring Twitter for $44 billion following months of legal wrangling.
“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” he wrote Sunday night.
“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.”
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Musk is launching an $8 monthly subscription service where any Twitter user may be able to easily attain a blue checkmark symbol.
The simple blue mark was previously used to verify government accounts, notable figures, politicians, journalists and other vetted users.
“Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark,” he added in the series of tweets.
The overhaul is designed in efforts to pay off company debt. Of Twitter’s nearly 237 million users, less than 450,000 accounts currently have the blue check mark symbols.
A class-action lawsuit was filed against the company by workers who claimed the layoffs violate federal law requiring 60 days’ notice for employees, also known as the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
