Parody, Commentary, and Fan Accounts Policy

Twitter users are allowed to create parody, commentary, or fan accounts (including role-playing). Twitter provides a platform for its users to share and receive a wide range of ideas and content, and we greatly value and respect our users' expression. Because of these principles, we do not actively monitor users' content and will not edit or remove user content, except in cases of violations of our Terms of Service.

Each user is responsible for the content that they provide. Accounts with clear intent to deceive or confuse are prohibited as impersonation accounts and subject to suspension. Please see our guidelines for reporting impersonation for information on filing an impersonation complaint.

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.

Role-Playing: Twitter allows role-playing accounts. If you are operating a role-playing account that may include inflammatory or controversial topics, we suggest that you add a clarification to your bio, such as "role-playing," in addition to complying with our best practices.

What Happens When We Receive a Valid Report?

If an account is engaged in parody and follows all of the above recommendations, it will generally be free to continue in its parody so long as it doesn't mislead or deceive others. These are considered best practices for clearly marking accounts as one that is engaging in non-impersonation parody/commentary. Users may also choose to use different language to indicate that an account is a parody, commentary, or fan account so long as it is clear. However, if an account is found to be deceptive or misleading, we may request that the user make further changes to bring the account more in line with these best practices. Accounts with a clear intent to deceive may be permanently suspended.