Soon after Musk launched the Twitter Blue premium subscription service, which grants blue-check "verification" labels to anyone willing to pay US$8 a month, or $9.99 in Canada, dozens of imposter accounts started popping up.
There are now two categories of "blue checks," and they look identical. One includes the accounts verified before Musk took the helm and verified for being 鈥渘otable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category." The other notes that the account subscribes to Twitter Blue.
From a tweeting jokes about keeping sick kids away from his cabin to an account masquerading as pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co and , it has been a free-for-all atmosphere for Twitter users mocking the platform's latest feature.
On Thursday, Elon Musk tweeted that any parody account must include the word 鈥減arody鈥� in their name and not just their bio.
鈥淭o be more precise accounts doing parody impersonations. Basically, tricking people is not ok,鈥� he said.
On Friday, Twitter Blue signups became unavailable due to the flurry of fake accounts.
Here are some of the tweets showing the fake accounts that are overtaking the platform, with some accounts taking days before being removed by Twitter:
WARNING: Some tweets below contain strong language.
