X hosts numerous accounts that impersonate public figures, including politicians, athletes, and celebrities. While some of these parody accounts clearly state “Parody” in their usernames or bios, others may be more subtle, leading to confusion among users, including news professionals, who mistake them for real accounts.

Reports from app reverse engineers suggest that X is working on a new label for parody or fan commentary accounts, aimed at making these accounts more easily identifiable. If the feature is launched and parody accounts adopt it, users will see a “Parody account” label both on the account’s profile and on individual posts. This would reduce the likelihood of posts from parody accounts being mistaken for those of the actual person.

However, enforcing the adoption of this label could pose a significant challenge for X. The platform’s current Authenticity policy already includes provisions for parody accounts, stipulating that they must not attempt to impersonate others with the intent to deceive or spread misinformation.

“We allow compliant Parody, Commentary, and Fan (PCF) accounts on X only if their purpose is to discuss, satirize, or share information,” the policy states.

If the new label is introduced, X will also need to establish clear guidelines on how satirical accounts should implement it. If a large number of parody accounts fail to adopt the label, it could cause confusion for users.

It’s worth noting that X already uses a label for automated bot accounts that utilize the platform’s API to post content automatically. Despite this, not all bot accounts comply with the labeling rule, and there have been reports of bots influencing election-related conversations through automation.