Elon Musk Wants Comedy on Twitter, but He Can’t Take a Joke

Musk threatened to permanently suspend anyone impersonating a user without a “parody” label after celebrities adopted his profile to protest new rules.

OUT OF ALL THE THINGS THAT CAN GET LOST ON THE INTERNET, one’s sense of humor may be the most difficult to recover. Intention, tone, and nuance are not always apparent in characters on screen. Seasoned social media veterans, on the other hand, can usually decipher your meaning. This should be obvious to Elon Musk.

But it doesn’t appear to be. Over the weekend, several already-verified Twitter users, including comedian Kathy Griffin, changed their names to “Elon Musk” and then posted tweets that appeared out of character for the company’s new CEO.  Griffin, for example, encouraged Americans to vote Democrat in today’s midterm elections; former NFL punter Chris Kluwe wrote, “If you want to be like me, drink your pee.”

Griffin’s, Kluwe’s, and others’ accounts were quickly suspended, and Musk issued a series of tweets stating that “going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.” “Previously, we issued a warning prior to suspension, but now that we are implementing widespread verification, there will be no warning.” This will be clearly stated as a requirement for signing up for Twitter Blue.” (He also stated that “any name change at all will result in the temporary loss of the verified checkmark.”)

Online, the phrase “Can’t take a joke?” is frequently used by people who are trying to justify saying something offensive. When Musk tweeted that “comedy is now legal on Twitter,” he adopted a similar stance. A little over a week later, however, some of his detractors are banned from Twitter.

Verified Twitter users may soon have to pay a monthly fee to keep their badges under Elon Musk’s leadership

It’s not that there weren’t rules against impersonating others on Twitter before—there were—but Musk’s suggestions for upholding them come across as more forceful. Musk has referred to himself as a “free-speech absolutist” and stated that he hopes even his harshest critics will continue to use Twitter because that is what free speech entails.

Musk may be saying that while it’s okay to criticize him, it’s not okay to make fun of him. But if he approves of parody, he obviously doesn’t understand what parody is. The point is to use humor to discuss more serious topics.

It is true that none of the individuals who changed their Twitter username to match his did so with the intention of making fun of him. It’s also true that Daily Show correspondent Jaboukie Young-White was suspended for writing about President Biden’s extramarital affairs while posing as CNN on Twitter.

In an attempt to take over the Nilla Wafers account while posing as Sia, comedian Patti Harrison was banned for tweeting, “If you are bisexual, we do not want your business.” But even if they aren’t identified, all of these are satirical examples and should be permitted. You’d think anyone who once said The Onion was the “greatest publication in the history of all conscious beings, living or dead” would understand that something kind of stops being a parody if it’s labeled as such. Yet alas.

If nothing else, jokes should always punch up rather than down. People who want to make fun of multibillion dollar corporations should (mostly) be protected by free speech (or their CEOs).

Despite the First Amendment’s protection of hate speech, there comes a point where insulting people with racist, transphobic, sexist, homophobic, or other intolerant language is no longer funny (and probably never was one). Additionally, such speech can easily turn into harassment and violence. The target audience of the speech may be protected, but not they.

So even though they don’t scream “PARODY,” do Griffin and co.’s tweets still amount to a punch to Musk’s face? Most probably not. It essentially doesn’t matter. Since he owns the business, he can decide who gets the last laugh.