Twitter has moved to curb fake accounts that have proliferated since Elon Musk took over, suspending signups for a new paid tagging system and restoring a gray “official” badge to some accounts.
The latest twist was the latest in a series of chaotic developments at the social network, which has been mired in the account verification issue since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition late last month.
The @TwitterSupport account tweeted early Friday that a gray tick indicating an “official” account was returning, just days after it was introduced — then almost immediately canceled.
“To combat impersonation, we’ve added an ‘Official’ tag to some accounts,” the profile announced.
The spread of the tag seemed inconsistent: it appeared for a short time and then disappeared from the network’s account, @Twitter.
By Friday morning, the firm had also disabled Twitter Blue signups, the feature championed by free-speech advocate Musk as bringing “power to the people” by offering ordinary users a verified blue checkmark — until then reserved for accounts outstanding – for $8 per month.
An internal memo to Twitter staff, obtained by US media including The Washington Post, confirmed that the feature had been temporarily disabled to “help address impersonation issues”.
At the launch of Blue Check’s paid verification system, Musk had warned that Twitter would suspend fake accounts that were not clearly marked as parodies.
But accounts impersonating public figures and businesses had continued to proliferate – with NBA star LeBron James and former British prime minister Tony Blair among those targeted.
US drugmaker Eli Lilly was forced to apologize on Thursday after a fake account – stamped with a blue purchased mark – tweeted that insulin would be made available for free.
The fake account was removed and the company issued a statement of apology.
There are steps people can take to determine if a Twitter account with a blue tick is authentic, including checking the account’s handle, creation date and number of followers it has — and noting who is following it.
For example, one account purportedly showed NBA star Lebron James requesting a trade from his team. Authentic James handle- @KingJames
—was created in 2009 and has more than 52 million followers. This includes other NBA players and the Los Angeles Lakers, his team.
But the account impersonating him used the handle @KINGJamez, went online in November 2022 and had fewer than 200 followers, according to archived captures.
Twitter users can click a profile’s badge to see if the account has paid for it. A pop-up on paid accounts reads: “This account has been verified because it subscribes to Twitter Blue.”
For accounts verified to be featured, it says: “This account has been verified because it is visible in government, news, entertainment, or another specific category.”
Government agencies and public figures often list Twitter information on websites and other platforms, such as Facebook.
Dan Evon, senior manager of education design at the nonprofit News Literacy Project, said people can always “run a logic check.”
“Many of these scam accounts are posting blatantly inflammatory messages,” Evon said. “If the account is posting something newsworthy, did it make the news?”
The new facility to obtain a blue badge makes media literacy more crucial than ever, as the new system could open the door to disinformation from accounts posing as government leaders and agencies, health officials, weather channels, financial advisors and more.
“This change opens up so many opportunities for bad actors that it will be difficult for fact-checkers to keep up,” Evon added.
Twitter unrest has raised concerns about the potential for serious harm if bad actors successfully pose as official representatives of powerful companies or government entities.
And the turmoil — which led to the departure of two other top security executives on Thursday — drew a rare warning from the Federal Trade Commission, which said it was watching the developments with “deep concern.”
That same day, Musk informed Twitter employees that the site was dangerously burning through cash, raising the specter of bankruptcy if the situation didn’t turn around.
The warning came a week after he laid off half of Twitter’s 7,500 employees.
