Update 2022/11/14 at 8:33am ET: All good things must come to an end, including excellent parody. The fake Doug Ford Twitter account was suspended over the weekend. If you missed it, check out some of the preserved tweets below.
As Twitter suspends its new Blue subscription, which gives accounts a blue checkmark, over rampant impersonation issues, imposters have come to Ontario’s provincial government.
Global News spotted a parody account for Ontario Premier Doug Ford, which now sports the paid blue checkmark. At a glance, the account could easily be mistaken for Ford’s actual account, given the similar profile picture and account name (plus, the blue checkmark previously signified verified accounts before it became a signal of paying for Twitter).
Check out the screenshot below for a taste of some excellent Ford parody tweets (you can also view the account yourself here until gets banned).
Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, recently ramped up the penalties for impersonation on Twitter after a slew of accounts — including some celebrities — impersonated Musk to make fun of him. Musk also declared that any account doing parody must include the word ‘parody,’ and later, he tweeted that parody must be in the account name and not just the bio.
To be more precise, accounts doing parody impersonations. Basically, tricking people is not ok.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2022
That hasn’t stemmed the flood of fake accounts buying blue checks to impersonate high-profile accounts, including brands, athletes, news organizations and more. The situation has proven both hilarious and highlighted the consequences of messing with Twitter’s well-established verification system.
You can keep up with the latest Twitter turmoil here.
Source: @DougFord_ON Via: Global News
