We all know that political leaders from across the world uses the different social media sites from time-to-time – the latest in addition is that the French President Nicolas Sarkozy had opened a Twitter account – during which the course of time, certain several parody and critical accounts have been suspended by micro-blogging site over the last days, generating accusations of censorship – resulting in that Twitter publish post a blog on its French blog stating Twitter’s policies with regard to parody and spam.
The post started by saying as well as better “suggesting” that Twitter is an integral part of political discourse throughout the world, understanding and supporting the need for real-time dialogue on key issues between the both politicians and citizens-far be it from the site hindering this process – along with which it is also important to protect the user experience by ensuring compliance with the rules (guidelines) set by the site – over which if they are not obliged the site holds the rights to suspect accounts that violate them.
Parody is tolerated and encouraged on Twitter, as it respects not certain, but all the conditions listed in our public accounts rules parodic . An identity thief account is suspended when two conditions are met: 1) the account violates the rules mentioned above, and 2) the account is reported to us by the person whose identity is misused.
We make use of automatic suspensions for violating the rules accounts listed under ‘Spam’ to Twitter Rules. A suspended user can ask us at any time to cancel the suspension of his account. In most cases, a second chance to follow the rules will be granted.
Guidelines for Parody, Commentary and Fan Accounts
In order to avoid impersonation, an account’s profile information should make it clear that the creator of the account is not actually the same person or entity as the subject of the parody/commentary. Here are some suggestions for marking your account:
- Username: The username should not be the exact name of the subject of the parody, commentary, or fandom; to make it clearer, you should distinguish the account with a qualifier such as “not,” “fake,” or “fan.”
- Name: The profile name should not list the exact name of the subject without some other distinguishing word, such as “not,” “fake,” or “fan.”
- Bio: The bio should include a statement to distinguish it from the real identity, such as “This is a parody,” “This is a fan page,” “Parody Account,” “Fan Account,” “Role-playing Account,” or “This is not affiliated with…”
- Communication with other users: The account should not, through private or public communication with other users, try to deceive or mislead others about your identity. For example, if operating a fan account, do not direct message other users implying you are the actual subject (i.e., person, band, sports team, etc.) of the fan account.
The recently suspended accounts included @_nicolassarkozy, but also @mafranceforte (Sarkozy’s motto), @sarkocensure (“sarkozycensorship”) and @sarkozycestfini (“sarkozyitsover”).
(Image Sources: Twitter Censored, Featured Image)
