A day after Twitter, owned by Elon Musk, issued widespread layoffs, the company began making changes to its verification system.
Jeff Chiu/AP
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Jeff Chiu/AP
A day after Twitter, owned by Elon Musk, issued widespread layoffs, the company began making changes to its verification system.
Jeff Chiu/AP
Twitter began touting the launch of its paid subscription service in Apple’s app store on Saturday, following new owner Elon Musk’s promised overhaul of the social media platform’s verification system.
The free one-time blue checkmark given to verified Twitter accounts will soon be available to any Twitter Blue user who pays $7.99 a month. Since 2009, blue verified accounts have been distributed to users through a verification process as a way to separate authentic accounts from impersonators.
After the new model raised alarm about the consequences the system could have on disinformation about the 2022 midterm elections, the company delayed the launch until November 9, New York Times reported on Sunday.
An update to the Twitter app on iOS devices in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK said that users who sign up can now receive the blue check “just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow”.
Despite the name of the new Twitter Blue feature, Twitter has not specified any requirements necessary to verify a user’s authenticity beyond the monthly fee.
However, Musk said in a tweet on Sunday that there would be consequences for inauthentic accounts. “Going forward, any Twitter that addresses engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.” he wrote.
His warning comes amid a trend of Twitter users posing as Musk by adopting the same name and profile picture as the billionaire. Many such fraudulent accounts posted screenshots showing their account suspensions earlier on Sunday.
It’s unclear when paid users will get the new checkmarks next to their names or when verified accounts without a paid subscription will lose their verification.
“The new Blue isn’t live yet – the sprint to our launch continues, but some people may see us making updates because we’re testing and pushing changes in real time.” a product team manager in the company tweeted on Saturday.
Android phones are next to roll out the subscription, she added, without specifying a time.
A day ago, Twitter laid off half of its workforce to cut costs. Musk said the company is losing more than $4 million a day.
Meanwhile, Musk’s commitment to advancing his version of free speech on the platform has cost the company ad revenue. The billionaire recently vowed to advertisers that Twitter would not turn into a “view of free-for-all hell.”
Musk explained his reasoning for renewing the verification in a tweet on Saturday.
“Many ‘verified’ inheritance control tokens were distributed, often arbitrarily, so that in reality they are *not* verified,” he wrote. “You can buy as much as you want now with a Google search. Piggyback plus Apple/Android payment system support is a much better way to ensure verification.”
Major technology watchdog groups had said that making changes to verification standards so close to an election could be confusing or dangerous. Fears remain that looser content moderation rules could fuel the kind of hateful rhetoric on the platform that leads to violence in the real world.
