Twitter’s relaunched premium service, which awards blue check “verification” labels to anyone willing to pay $8 a month, was unavailable on Friday after the social media platform was flooded with a wave of imposter accounts. approved by Twitter.
Before billionaire Elon Musk took control of the social media platform two weeks ago, the blue check was given to celebrities, journalists and verified by the platform, precisely to prevent identity theft. Now anyone can get one as long as they have a phone, a credit card and $8 a month.
After an impostor account registered under the revamped Twitter Blue system tweeted that insulin was free, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. had to post an apology. Nintendo, Lockheed Martin, Musk’s own Tesla and SpaceX were also impersonated, as were the accounts of various professional sports figures.
For advertisers who have suspended their business on Twitter, the fake accounts could be the final straw, as Musk’s rocky run to the top of the platform, laying off half the workforce and sparking departures from high profile, raises questions about its ability to survive.
There are now two categories of “blue checks” and they look identical. One includes verified accounts before Musk took the helm. He notes that “this account is verified because it is notable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category.” The other notes that the account subscribes to Twitter Blue.
An email sent to Twitter’s press address went unanswered. The company’s communications department was destroyed by the layoffs.
On Thursday, Musk tweeted that “there are too many corrupt legacy blue ‘verify’ checkmarks out there so there is no choice but to remove the legacy blue in the coming months.”
Twitter Blue was not available on the online version of the platform, which said that registration was only possible on the iPhone version. But the iPhone version did not offer Twitter Blue as an option
Twitter also once again began adding gray “official” labels to some featured accounts. It had released the tags earlier this week, only to kill them a few hours later.
They returned Thursday night, at least for some accounts, including Twitter itself, as well as big companies like Amazon, Nike and Coca-Cola, before many disappeared again.
Celebrities also didn’t seem to be getting the “official” label.