Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts chastised Elon Musk on Sunday after the billionaire had a snarky response to the lawmaker’s request for details about Twitter’s new verification insurance policies. “Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody?” Musk tweeted Sunday morning after Markey shared a current letter he despatched criticizing the corporate’s new $8 monthly Twitter Blue subscription. “And why does your pp have a mask!?” Musk added just a few hours later, referring to Markey’s profile image, which reveals the senator sporting a face overlaying.
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Markey wasn’t impressed by Musk’s response. “One of your companies is under an FTC consent decree. Auto safety watchdog NHTSA is investigating another for killing people. And you’re spending your time picking fights online,” he stated. “Fix your companies. Or Congress will.”
Markey despatched the letter that prompted the trade on November eleventh. In the letter, Markey asks Musk to elucidate how The Washington Post was in a position to create a verified account impersonating him and why an official pop-up advised Twitter customers the verification was as a consequence of a job in authorities. Musk has till November twenty fifth to reply these questions and others in writing.
Twitter suspended paid account verification lower than two days after launching its new Blue subscription. While the service was out there, trolls used it to impersonate celebrities, politicians and types, resulting in chaos on the platform. One account pretending to be LeBron James claimed the NBA star had requested to be traded by the Los Angeles Lakers. Another one tanked the inventory of the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly.
While there’s no certainty Markey’s warning will translate to authorities motion, the probability of a regulatory response grew to become extra strong on Sunday after Democrats secured a Senate majority. Markey can also be a member of the Subcommittee on Communication, Media, and Broadband, the Senate panel almost certainly to advocate motion towards Twitter.