Billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform Twitter will launch an “official” label for select verified accounts, including major media outlets and governments, when it launches its new $8 premium subscription product, said Esther Crawford, product manager for the early stage, on Tuesday. Crawford also confirmed that the revamped Twitter Blue subscription product, which allows paid users to wear blue ticks on their accounts, doesn’t actually verify users’ identities.
The lack of identity verification is likely to raise concerns about the possibility of people impersonating public figures. Such concerns have already prompted Twitter to delay the launch of the new version of Twitter Blue until after Tuesday’s US midterm elections, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of security and integrity, tweeted.
Not all previously verified accounts receive the Official label, and the label is not available for purchase. Accounts that receive it include government accounts, trading companies, business partners, major media companies, publishers, and some public figures. — Esther Crawford (@esthercrawford) November 8, 2022
According to sources and researchers familiar with the matter, fake accounts for government officials are a recurring problem for Twitter around the world. Not all Twitter accounts previously verified with a blue tick receive the Official label, and the label is not for sale, Crawford said. Accounts that will receive the official label include governments, trading companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some other public figures, she tweeted. Not all Twitter accounts previously verified with a blue tick receive the Official label, and the label is not for sale, Crawford said. Accounts that will receive the official label include governments, trading companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some other public figures, she tweeted. Introducing a new label alongside the existing checkmarks "creates a confusing system" in which some, but not all, previously verified accounts are considered official, said Jason Goldman, a former Twitter board member who served as product lead for the early years. "It's a complete mess," he said. The official label comes after an internal push by Twitter political leaders who have had grave concerns that government officials around the world are unlikely and unwilling to pay for verified ticks, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Twitter, which has lost many members of its communications team, did not respond to a request for further comment. Crawford added Tuesday that Twitter "will continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types."
