Elon Musk’s X Takes Aim at Parody Accounts in New Crackdown

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Elon Musk’s X is cracking down on parody accounts with a new policy this week as the platform tries to wrestle back control of its ever-chaotic identity ecosystem.

X announced Saturday that it will begin enforcing stricter rules on parody, commentary, and fan (PCF) accounts starting April 10, demanding that they clearly label themselves at the beginning of their usernames — and that they ditch profile images mimicking the people or brands they mock.

“These changes are designed to help users better understand the unaffiliated nature of PCF accounts and reduce the risk of confusion or impersonation,” the company said, urging affected users to comply ahead of the enforcement deadline.

The move marks the latest in a long saga for the platform, which has struggled with impersonation issues ever since Musk dismantled the legacy verification system in 2022 after he acquired the platform, formerly Twitter, and allowed anyone to purchase a blue checkmark. The result was an impersonation free-for-all that spawned everything from fake corporate announcements to Musk lookalikes running crypto scams.

In the Musk era, parody accounts were given a sliver of protection under the platform’s supposed commitment to “comedy” and “free speech” — but enforcement has been erratic, and scammers have routinely gamed the system by burying the word “parody” in bios or usernames where it’s often unreadable.