The Twitter account of comedian-actor Kathy Griffin has been permanently suspended for ‘engaging in impersonation’. Kathy had changed her display name to Elon Musk and asked people to support Democratic candidates in the US midterm election. A screenshot of her, now viral, tweet, read, ‘After much-spirited discussion with the females in my life. I have decided that voting blue for their choice is only right (They’re also sexy females, btw) #VoteBlueToProtectWomen.’
After the suspension of Kathy’s account, the Tesla CEO and Twitter's new boss issued a warning on his handle and said that going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.
In a tweet, he also said that Kathy Griffin can get her account back if she pays $8 (the blue tick fee).
Many netizens are accusing Musk of cracking down on free speech after this move. However, Musk has said that his commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following his plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk.
Twitter's blue tick fee is the first major change to the platform after Elon Musk took charge of the site.
Many Hollywood celebrities like Gigi Hadid, Shonda Rhimes, and Toni Braxton have quit Twitter and switched to a different platform.
Also Watch: Twitter exodus: See who signed off and who stayed following Elon Musk’s takeover