German foreign minister: Twitter parody account a foreign policy risk

German foreign minister: Twitter parody account a foreign policy risk

Germany‘s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her staff didn’t get the joke: At least not on Monday, after they introduced that they had taken motion in opposition to a satirical Twitter account impersonating the minister to keep away from confusion with the international minister’s official account.

The parody account, dubbed Baerbockpress, is now explicitly marked as such.

“In the past, it has actually come to confusion,” defined a spokesman for the ministry in Berlin. Before, the similarity between the satire account and official deal with had been uncanny, he added.

Baerbockpress nonetheless has the identical profile picture as Baerbock’s official profile, however is now labelled: “Foreign Minister Parody Annalena Baerbock.”

The account makes enjoyable of the Green politician by promising diplomatic immunity to its 50,000 or so followers or sending out prank messages in damaged English for instance, with one quipping: “China want to sell me for stupid, but now I know how the rabbit runs.” Baerbock is usually teased for making errors when talking English.

Every public determine, even ministers, should settle for being made enjoyable of, harassed the spokesman. In this specific case, nevertheless, the account represented a tangible threat to international coverage. He referred for instance, to crises such because the current navy coup in Niger, which the parody account additionally tackled, changing into muddled on Twitter.

The wrongdoer behind the parody account is just not recognized.

Twitter didn’t reply to touch upon the matter. But Twitter’s stance on the problem might not be too troublesome to discern, given proprietor Elon Musk’s insistence final 12 months, that faux accounts impersonating others should embody the phrase “parody” of their names.

Source: www.anews.com.tr