X/Twitter Plans to Introduce Special Labels for Parody Accounts to Prevent Misidentification

X/Twitter has a strict policy against impersonation; however, it differentiates between malicious impersonation and interest-based parody. Therefore, numerous parody accounts exist on X/Twitter, which often include "Parody" in their name to indicate their nature. If they fail to do so, X might suspend their accounts for violating terms of use.

Despite clear labels, some users still mistake these parody accounts for real individuals, leading to the spread of rumors that were intended as jokes.

For instance, a parody account of Elon Musk has garnered 2.47 million followers without being suspended due to its clear "Parody" label.

To address this issue, X engineers are developing a new feature to add a specific label to all parody accounts, making it easier for users to distinguish them. This label will be visible under the account's profile page, added officially by X, reducing the chances of confusion.

This move also aims to prevent the problem of accounts not adding "Parody" to their names, as X cannot possibly detect and suspend every rule-violating parody or impersonation account.

X's terms of use allow the creation of compliant parody, commentary, and fan accounts, provided they are for discussion, satire, or information sharing purposes.

Following the launch of the new parody account label, X may need to update its terms of use to require all parody accounts to actively add this label or face suspension for terms of use violation. This measure should encourage parody accounts to self-identify, helping users to differentiate them more easily.

On another front, X continues its battle against bots. While X provides an API for users to post messages via bots, numerous malicious bot accounts exploit unofficial APIs to send spam for advertising and scams.

Tweets sent via the official API are marked with a "bot" label, but identifying malicious bots relies on X's algorithmic detection and suspension, which, from user feedback, seems insufficiently effective.