Twitter brings back ‘official’ verification label amid flood of fake accounts
Christopher Hutton
Video Embed
Twitter brought back its “official” identity verification tag, just days after Elon Musk decided to kill it, in response to a spike in accounts impersonating high-profile users and companies, a decision reflecting the uncertainty surrounding the company.
The social platform said on Friday that it had reinstated the “official” badge to select users after the platform removed it. The new function was provided to accounts to confirm whether an account was officially verified to be who it was. The product’s reinstallation arrives a day after Musk surprised Twitter staffers with a sudden meeting to speak about the company’s financial uncertainty and his need for them to work in-office.
It also on Friday suspended the rollout of Musk’s changes to Twitter Blue, which would charge users $7.99 and allow them to gain verification. People had been using the service to get verification for accounts posing as others.
‘DARK BRANDON’ REDUX: PRO-BIDEN MEME RETURNS AFTER GOP MIDTERM STRUGGLES
“To combat impersonation, we’ve added an ‘Official’ label to some accounts,” Twitter tweeted on Friday.
The “official” verification tag was on the platform for a short period on Wednesday for accounts that had previously earned the blue checkmark. The grey tag was being provided to all government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, and other public figures to verify that they were who they claimed, according to Esther Crawford, Twitter’s director of product management.
“Please note that Twitter will do many dumb things in coming months,” Musk said in a subsequent tweet. “We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.”
Musk’s decision to change Twitter’s rules for verification allowed multiple accounts to impersonate major brands such as Apple and Tesla.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The company is evolving under Musk’s leadership to become more of an “everything app.” The company took a significant step toward this approach when it filed paperwork with the Treasury Department to become a payment processor.