‘I’m Starting to Suspect That Musk Lied’: Elon Musk’s ‘Fragile Ego’ Mercilessly Mocked After Critics Claim to Uncover the Real Reason He Wants to Remove Parody Accounts
Soon after purchasing Twitter three years ago, Elon Musk declared he was taking the shackles off the social media platform, which some had accused of becoming too woke and humorless.
“Comedy is now legal on Twitter,” the tech billionaire tweeted in October 2022.
Well, not all of it, apparently. Parody, defined as a work that imitates the style of another artist or author for comic effect or ridicule, must abide by new rules that will be implemented by X starting Thursday.
“Accounts which impersonate another user or person must now use key words such as “fake” or “parody” at the start of their account handles,” X said in a statement, altogether removing any subtlety from parody, which, when done well, can be an effective critique on cultural and political trends and figures.
The platform will also prohibit parody account holders from using images that mimic the people or brands being caricatured.
“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, suggesting users impacted by the new rules comply ahead of the April 10 enforcement deadline.
Few figures have generated more parody accounts than Elon Musk. Some of them promote cryptocurrency or even give away cars, like one fake Musk account, which has more than one million followers. One recent post told users to “like and comment” for the chance to win a Tesla. So far the post has received more than 420,000 likes and 200,000 replies.
Others exist just to poke at Musk’s overinflated ego. Some are suggesting that the new rules on parody accounts were created mainly because the Tesla CEO and Starlink founder is too thin-skinned.
“This is literally to stop people making fun of him,” wrote one X user.
Until now, parody accounts were protected under X’s so-called commitment to “free speech.” As some have pointed out, the new standards seem to contradict Musk’s claim that he’s a free-speech absolutist.
“I’m starting to suspect that Musk lied about being a free speech liberal,” wrote one commenter on a Mediaite article about the new rules.
“He says he wants free speech, unless of course it mocks him,” added another Musk critic, post.ing on X.
But not everyone is opposed to the new rules.
“Hopefully this includes all the thousands of fake variations of Elon Musk accounts,” wrote one user in response to the new policy, according to the BBC.
“About time, I get a fake Elon account contacting me almost once a week,” wrote another.
Determining who is real and who’s a scammer is one of the bigger challenges in navigating social media. Take, for instance, this post sent Monday from an account claiming to be the official account of actor Keanu Reeves:
“Hey everyone! Just a heads up – this is my private account. You’ll only see my current pics here, including a recent meeting with @Elon Musk about tackling imposters. Be aware, fake accounts will try to repost this, so stay vigilant!”
Hey everyone! Just a heads up – this is my private account. You’ll only see my current pics here, including a recent meeting with @Elon Musk about tackling imposters. Be aware, fake accounts will try to repost this, so stay vigilant! pic.twitter.com/x2WcTcQmgJ
— 𝕂𝔼𝔸ℕ𝕌_ℝ𝔼𝔼𝕍𝔼𝕊 _
(@Keanu_Reeve_X) April 8, 2025
The picture of the “John Wick” star and Musk is clearly AI-generated, and the account it was sent has only 153 followers, far below what would be expected from a celebrity with a global following such as Reeves.
Many of the existing parody accounts identify their intent in brackets at the end of user names, but that can be easily manipulated. For instance, if such an account’s name is particularly lengthy, and only a shortened version appears in feeds or replies, users can be easily fooled, especially if the account’s image matches that of the real person.