Sen. Ed Markey hits again at Elon Musk after his response to questions on impersonation

Sen. Ed Markey chastised Twitter’s proprietor Elon Musk Sunday for his response to Markey’s request for solutions in regards to the platform’s new verification and impersonation insurance policies.

After a Washington Submit reporter efficiently arrange a faux verified account pretending to be the Massachusetts Democrat, Markey shared a letter to Musk on Twitter Friday asking him to “clarify how this occurred and easy methods to stop it from occurring once more.”

In response, Musk wrote again to Markey in a tweet Sunday and mentioned, “Maybe it’s as a result of your actual account feels like a parody?”

Markey didn’t seem to understand Musk’s response.

“One among your firms is underneath an FTC consent decree. Auto security watchdog NHTSA is investigating one other for killing folks. And also you’re spending your time choosing fights on-line. Repair your firms. Or Congress will,” Markey wrote in a tweet Sunday.

Twitter appeared to have paused the $7.99 a month Twitter Blue verification program shortly after the Submit ran its take a look at as impersonations of celebrities and types proliferated throughout the platform.

However previous to the pause, the Submit was capable of arrange a Twitter deal with known as “@realEdMarkey” utilizing “a spare iPhone, a bank card and somewhat creativity.” The account obtained a blue verified checkmark, though Markey already has two professional verified accounts.

The blue examine is meant to be a characteristic of the paid Twitter Blue, however the Submit reporter discovered that Twitter mentioned the faux Markey account was verified “as a result of it is notable in authorities, information, leisure, or one other designated class.”

Twitter has not too long ago misplaced key privateness and content material moderation executives.

“Safeguards resembling Twitter’s blue checkmark as soon as allowed customers to be good, vital shoppers of stories and knowledge in Twitter’s international city sq.,” Markey wrote in his letter to Musk. “However your Twitter takeover, fast and haphazard imposition of platform modifications, elimination of safeguards in opposition to disinformation, and firing of enormous numbers of Twitter staff have accelerated Twitter’s descent into the Wild West of social media.”

Markey requested Musk to reply to his questions in writing by Nov. 25.

The change between Musk and Markey on Twitter just isn’t the primary time the pair has gone head-to-head.

Musk can also be the CEO of the automaker Tesla, and Tesla’s driver help programs are branded Autopilot and Full Self Driving within the U.S. Throughout a collection of Tesla crashes in August 2021, Markey and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) expressed “critical considerations” about the best way the corporate advertises these applied sciences. They requested the Federal Commerce Fee to launch an investigation.

The senators additionally known as on the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration in June to take “aggressive investigative and enforcement motion on autos with automated driving programs (ADS) and superior driver help programs (ADAS)” after the administration launched information exhibiting greater than 500 crashes in autos with these applied sciences.

— CNBC’s Lauren Feiner and Laura Kolodny contributed to this report.