X is filled with accounts that mimic real-life public figures, ranging from politicians to sports professionals and artists. While some accounts mention “Parody” in their display names, others mention it in their bios, leading some people to mistake them for real accounts — including news anchors.
According to a few app reverse engineers, the platform is developing a new label for parody or fan commentary accounts so they can more clearly identify themselves as parody accounts.
If the company rolls out the label, and parody accounts adopt them, users will see a “Parody account” label below the username on the profile page, and on their posts as well. This means there is less chance of someone mixing up a post from a parody account with the real person’s account.
The most difficult challenge for the platform might be forcing parody accounts to apply the label to their profiles. Currently, X has a clause for parody accounts in its Authenticity policy, asking them to be compliant with the platform’s rules of not trying to impersonate other profiles with an intent to spread misinformation.
“We allow compliant Parody, Commentary, and Fan (PCF) accounts on X only if the purpose is to discuss, satirize or share information,” the policy reads.
If the new label is rolled out, X will also need to have a policy around how satirical accounts might need to adopt the label. If a large chunk of parody accounts don’t adopt this label, users will get confused.
Notably, X already has a label for automated bot accounts that use the social network’s API to post updates automatically. However, not all bot accounts respect these rules and apply a label. There have been plenty of reports about bad actors using different automation techniques to control election-related narratives using bot accounts.