All eyes are on whether Elon Musk will remove blue checkmarks from celebrities and other high-profile Twitter users starting April 1 unless they pay for the privilege.
Musk vowed to act, despite a previous attempt mobilizing a horde of trolls and hoaxers.
Since its introduction in 2009, the valuable verification mark has become a key factor in Twitter’s success, helping the platform become a trusted forum for celebrities, politicians, companies and campaigners.
But tycoon Musk and his fans dismiss the blue check as a symbol of the online class system, which he sees as separating Twitter’s “Pelebians” from the privileged elite.
Opening up BlueTick to paying subscribers — in a program called Twitter Blue — was among the decisions Musk made when he took ownership of Twitter last year, but his overhaul backfired.
Within hours, Twitter was flooded with fake-yet-verified accounts impersonating celebrities and major companies, with a fake tweet sending shares of drugmaker Eli Lilly soaring.
Musk quickly backtracked, and instituted a more thorough verification policy for subscribers, but many advertisers fled the site, denying Twitter a major source of revenue that the CEO replaced. struggling to do.
Since taking control, Musk has rapidly cut the group’s employee ranks and the site has seen a series of technical glitches.
Twitter also reopened tens of thousands of suspended accounts, allowing hate speech and other negative content to resurface, according to social media watchdogs.
‘Different standard’
It remains to be seen how many Twitter users will pay for a seal of authenticity that has long been free.
“The question is, do you want to answer ‘yes’ to blackmail,” said Rob Anderle, an independent tech analyst at the Anderle Group.
If a celebrity or brand doesn’t pay for a blue Twitter checkmark, a faker can buy the illusion of authenticity, the analyst said.
Accounts that receive blue checkmarks as part of Twitter Blue subscriptions won’t have to go through the same review to verify that they’ve applied before buying Musk’s platform, the company said in a post. made meet “substantial and authentic criteria”.
“Twitter Blue is basically a receipt – it proves that someone or something has paid them,” technical analyst Evie Greengart told JEE News.
As things currently stand, blue checks from celebrities including Justin Bieber and his 113 million followers or footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and his 108 million are tagged as “legacy” accounts on the site.
“It’s more about treating everyone the same,” Musk tweeted last week in response to Star Trek star William Shatner, who doesn’t want to pay.
“There shouldn’t be a different standard for celebrities.”
A total of 13,200 accounts have switched from the legacy to the new system, according to Travis Braun, a Berlin-based software developer who tracks social media platforms.
“At this rate Musk could be 1 in 20 by the April 1st deadline,” Brown tweeted Thursday.
The verified account conundrum also includes news media companies tagged as business accounts that charge hefty fees of $1,500 a month.
A New York Times spokesperson told JEE News that it would not pay for verified statuses on Twitter and that it would only pay for blue ticks for its journalists “in rare cases where the verified status is for reporting purposes.” will be necessary for.”
The Washington Post said it would review the changes, while JEE News said in an internal email to staff that it would “adapt as needed.”
Advocates have criticized plans to implement a payment model for verification, an idea that is also being tested by Twitter rival Facebook in Australia and New Zealand.
Reporters Without Borders called payment for verification “a dangerous tool that introduces two levels of access to information on social media and should be withdrawn.”
“There’s no question that it erodes confidence … for revenue growth that might not come,” said analyst Greengart.
Twitter’s press email responded to a request for comment with a poop emoji auto-reply.
Ella Irwin, the company executive in charge of Trust and Safety, did not respond to a request for comment.
