No, Elon Musk didn’t say ‘Twitter Tere Tukde Honge’ gang should also pay $8.

Ian Woolford, a Hindi professor based in Australia, changed his profile name and picture to look like Elon Musk’s Twitter handle and published this Hindi tweet posing as Elon Musk’s parody account.

A screenshot of a Hindi tweet allegedly by Elon Musk is making the rounds on social media. In the tweet, Musk says that the gang planning to break Twitter will also have to pay $8 for the blue tick. 

The claim comes after in a move to give “power to the people” Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, announced widespread verification on Twitter. For that users only need to pay USD 8 fee per month. Musk announced widespread verification on Twitter. For that users only need to pay USD 8 fee per month. 

Journalist Faye D’Souza shared this screenshot on her Facebook page.

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Fact Check

At first, we searched Elon Musk on Twitter; we discovered that his handle is “@elonmusk,” whereas the viral screenshot has the handle “@iawoolford.” 

In further search we found that this Twitter account (@iawoolford) was suspended for violating Twitter rules.

Dr.Ian Woolford is lecturer in Hindi at La Trobe University, Australia. Where he heads the Hindi language program, and teaches courses in South Asian culture. 

Elon Musk tweeted on 07 November 2022, “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended.”

We also found an article about this parody account of Elon Musk that published Hindi lyrics and memes in the name of Elon Musk.  According to the the Republicworld.com, “The account reportedly belonged to Ian Woolford, a Melbourne-based professor who teaches Hindi at La Trobe University. His Twitter handle, which has now been suspended, was almost identical to Musk’s, from the same profile picture to the same bio and which had about 91.9K followers prior to its suspension, gained prominence due to its quirky posts and hilarious Hindi versions of Musk’s tweets. On November 5, the Twitter chief wrote “Trash me all day, but it’ll cost $8,” which quickly inspired the parody account to write: “Twitter Tere Tukde Honge gang will also have to pay $8”.”

 You can also see a screen shot of the Times now report below

Taking account of all this evidence, we can clearly say that the screen shot is misleading. Ian Woolford’s Twitter account is clearly impersonating Elon Musk by using his name, display picture, and bio.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral post to be misleading. Ian Woolford, a Hindi professor based in Australia, changed his profile name and picture to look like Elon Musk’s Twitter handle and published this Hindi tweet posing as Elon Musk’s parody account.