The social network X, owned by American billionaire Elon Musk, is introducing stricter rules for satirical or parody accounts.
Starting April 10th, accounts impersonating other users or individuals will be required to include words like " at the beginning of their names.fake" (false) or "parody" (parody).
The platform will also require them to use different images than those of the accounts they are trying to imitate.
Some users have expressed dissatisfaction with the confusion caused by parody accounts, especially those posing as the network's owner - Elon Musk, one of US President Donald Trump's closest associates.
"The changes are designed to help users better understand that these accounts are not associated with a real person and to reduce the potential for confusion or false identification," it says in a statement from the company X.
The company urged users behind those accounts to update their profiles before the new measures take effect.
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The changes will apply to both fan accounts and those used for commenting.
"I hope this includes the thousands of fake variations of accounts posing as Elon Musk," one user wrote in response to X's post about the new rules.
"That time has come - I get contacted almost every week by some fake Musk account," added another.
There are numerous accounts on this network that imitate real personalities.
Their posts range from memes and jokes, to promoting cryptocurrencies and giving away cars.
A recent post from one such account, which has more than a million followers, invited users to "like and comment" to win a Tesla car.
The post garnered 428.000 likes and more than 200.000 comments.
I'm you in January introduced labels for parody accounts, building on previous rules that required users posing as entertainers to be clearly identified.
These measures, along with the blue badge verification system, are seen as tools to prevent deceptive imitations, while at the same time enabling freedom of speech and discussion.
However, some believe that this is not enough,
The European Union in July 2024. announced that blue checkmarks violate online content policies, as "verified" accounts with blue checkmarks can mislead users.
Musk, in response, called these rules "misinformation."
Having become the owner of the network in November 2022, the CEO Tesla stated that accounts presented without the appropriate markings will be blocked..
Many humorous and satirical accounts on X add a parenthesis at the end of the name.
However, if the name of a prank account is too long, and only a shortened version is displayed on the homepage, users may be confused, especially if they have the same image as the account they are impersonating.
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