Although Twitter has temporarily suspended the new subscription service, experts say the damage to public trust in the platform may already be done.
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David Odisho/Getty Images
Although Twitter has temporarily suspended the new subscription service, experts say the damage to public trust in the platform may already be done.
David Odisho/Getty Images
When Michele Rogosky heard about the shooting at the University of Virginia on Sunday night, she called her son immediately, panicking. He is a student there and she knew he liked to go to the gym late at night.
Apparently, he was holed up in his apartment with his roommates, and knowing that helped calm him down. But the situation was uncertain, with the suspect at large at the time and little information available.
Rogosky lives 400 miles from Charlottesville, on Long Island, New York. Normally, she says, she would have gone to Twitter to check the university’s public safety accounts and ask for updates. But something stopped him this time.
I honestly can’t say if this is true or not. There is no blue mark
— Brian 4 Ferndale 🌹 (@BrianStawowy) November 14, 2022
There was an active shooter at UVA this morning, but since then @elonmusk removed verified background checks no one knew if it was real or not https://t.co/Hxs8i0a492
– Clint Pete (@ClintoPete) November 14, 2022
When reports of UVA shots came in, legal blue checks would have been very helpful. The only gloves that elevated the story were sus at best. Result 1 for agency 3l0n + chaos.
— baba yaga’s chicken coop🌊🍍 (@SeesEmily) November 14, 2022
Between all the new ads and the lack of account verification, she had a hard time knowing who and what information she could trust.
“It’s interesting because I went on Twitter last Tuesday,” Rogosky says, referring to election night. “Now it’s a water hole.”
Then, a Ukrainian missile crossed into Poland and killed two Polish citizens. Nerves were high after NATO called an emergency meeting on what this could mean for the ongoing conflict with Russia. Just like the day before, Twitter users expressed reluctance about the information they were seeing on the platform.
World War 3 is probably breaking out and I’m here clicking on verified account checks to see if they’re official or blue twitter subscribers
— David Mack (@davidmackau) November 15, 2022
At the heart of the confusion were Twitter’s new — and often changing — policies that have been in place since Elon Musk’s tenure as owner and CEO began in late October. A blue tick next to a user’s name used to signify their identity had been verified by the social media company. At the time, verification was a built-in service that allowed the public to quickly determine which accounts and information came from a legitimate source.
Then Musk introduced the now-discontinued Twitter Blue in early November: a subscription plan available for $7.99 a month, allowing anyone to get that once-coveted blue tick next to any screen name they want .
Soon after, Twitter was flooded with impersonators and misinformation, with fake accounts of George W. Bush and Tony Blair. trading jokes about the war in Iraqand “verified” accounts for public figures and institutions like Rudy Giuliani, Brigham Young University, and even Jesus Christ.
Who has two thumbs and verified?
– Jesus Christ (@jesus) November 9, 2022
But the most popular target seemed to be Musk himself — in order to show Twitter’s new owner how easy it was to impersonate public figures under his new policies.
When the UVA shooting broke out late Sunday night, people seeking more information complained that the top tweet was someone pretending to be Texas Sen. Ted Cruz commenting on gun violence.
@elonmusk I looked up UVA because of tonight’s shooting, and the top tweet that comes up is a fake “verified” impersonating account @tedcruz (actually there are so many I have no idea which one is true). Many people have reported the account and it is still there. Twitter is broken. pic.twitter.com/BCyYYahav2
— Eric Solberg (@Eric_Solberg) November 14, 2022
The company suspended Twitter Blue less than 48 hours after its launch, and Musk has said the service will reopen later this month.
Musk also announced that the company was taking steps to address the fake accounts.
“Going forward, any Twitter engaging in parody without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” Musk posted on Twitter. While Twitter previously issued warnings before suspending users, its statement warned that after doing extensive verification, “There will be no warning.”
Regardless, the damage may already be done.
“Many will look for other ways to connect with people and get information,” says Donyale Padgett, a professor of communication studies at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Padgett has done extensive research on how Twitter has been used to reach the public during natural disasters, most recently focusing on Hurricane Harvey in 2017. This includes Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner using Twitter to share evacuation orders, warnings safety and recovery information for vulnerable people in his city.
So why was Twitter particularly useful in that situation? Padgett says it’s mostly about access.
“Especially in a crisis situation, it’s a way to share information with the largest number of people. The people whose lives are most affected by the situation may not have many options. They need to get this information and they need to get it that. quickly.”
That’s also what makes those people vulnerable to misinformation, Padgett added, and explained why verification is so important. If people have to make a quick decision during a natural disaster, they don’t have time to make sure the information they’re getting is from a legitimate source or a parody account. That verification process was supposed to be Twitter’s job. And until recently, it was.
“Now it’s a free-for-all,” says Padgett. “To think that could be compromised? It doesn’t make me feel good. It’s definitely a breach of trust in the whole system.”
Padgett lives in Detroit, where extreme weather is a year-round problem, especially during the winter. For years, tweets from local officials have been a quick and reliable way to reach the public and keep them safe. She worries that users with “malicious intentions” could start fake profiles to trick people. And despite her extensive research and history of working on the platform, Padgett is considering leaving Twitter and deleting her account.
“My hope is that I won’t have to,” she says. “That they will do something to restore integrity. But I haven’t decided yet. I’ll see.”
