Only a few days after a new wave of fake accounts imitating public figures, including Elon Musk and Donald Trump, the X network is preparing to enforce stricter rules for parody accounts. The decision will come into effect starting April 10th and is a direct response to the chaos caused by increasingly sophisticated imitations.
Parody remains allowed but becomes invisible
The new rule is simple, but with a major impact. If you want to create an account that parodies a public figure, you must clearly mark this in the profile name – using terms like “fake” or “parody”. Furthermore, you will be required to use a profile picture that does not resemble the real person’s.
On paper, the measure seems common sense: it prevents confusion and limits identity theft. In reality, however, this “forced label” drastically reduces the visibility of these accounts in searches and in users’ feeds. In other words, it’s not a total ban, but rather a programmed marginalization.
This means that jokes, memes, or ironies that circulated under the guise of fake accounts will become harder to find, harder to believe, and easier to ignore. The network wants to prevent situations where users accidentally share posts from parody accounts, without realizing they are fake.
A reaction to abuse… or a form of control?
In recent months, accounts such as “fake Elon” or “parody Trump” have quickly multiplied, especially due to the appearance of viral jokes or cryptocurrency scams. Some users have even started to complain that they are regularly contacted by such “clones”, asking for money or promoting dubious projects. At the same time, Musk has often been mocked on his own digital territory, which probably hastened his reaction.
Officially, representatives of X say that the goal is to reduce the risk of confusion and protect public identities. Unofficially, critics argue that this move also provides greater control over messages distributed on the platform, especially when it comes to influential public figures.