Elon Musk’s Twitter Verification Plan Backfires With A Series Of Offensive Posts From ‘Tony Blair’, ‘OJ Simpson’ And ‘Nintendo’ Accounts Tech News

Twitter’s new verification model seems counterproductive.

Previously, the blue tick was reserved for accounts Twitter Reviewed and determined to be genuine.

But after he took over, Elon Musk Announced as part of the Twitter Blue service, anyone can buy ticks for $8.00 a month in the US and £6.99 in the UK.

Social media sites are now flooded with accounts masquerading as brands, celebrities and politicians.

“I miss killing Iraqis,” tweeted a verified account claiming to be former US President George W. Bush.

Soon after, another account claiming to be former Prime Minister Tony Blair tweeted a fake Bush account saying: “Same.”

Another account claiming to be Nintendo posted a photo of Super Mario making offensive gestures, while another claiming to be OJ Simpson tweeted: “Yes, I’m ngl, I did that s* **”.

Another user posing as basketball superstar LeBron James said he was “officially asking for a trade.”

Even Twitter wasn’t immune to the chaos, with a corporate account imitating the company apparently leading many to believe it was real.

Many accounts were subsequently suspended, while others, which called themselves “parody”, remained.

So far, verification badges have only been awarded to well-known or high-profile accounts that Twitter analyzes and deems authentic, but now the only hurdle to clear is users paying a monthly subscription fee.

Apple iOS users in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand can now sign up and pay for the service, which will give them a blue badge next to their profile name on the platform.

Musk responded to the criticism, arguing that adding a paid tier to the platform would help weed out spam and fake accounts, who were unwilling to pay to gain attention on the site.

Twitter Blue will also add a feature that will facilitate replies to tweets from verified accounts as a way to root out those who aren’t verified on the site, something the company says is “coming soon.” part of a range of other benefits. subscription.

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But critics warn it will spark a new wave of misinformation, as bad actors sign up for badges and then pose as public figures to spread disinformation.

Twitter has pledged to stamp out any false or misleading use of the system, saying it will not allow users to change their display names after they have earned a badge.

Twitter’s online help page says the definition of the blue checkmark is “changing” as part of the update.

“So far, Twitter has used blue checkmarks to indicate active, noteworthy, and genuine public interest accounts that Twitter has independently verified in accordance with certain requirements,” the company said.

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“Now, a blue checkmark can mean two different things: either an account is verified against the previous verification criteria (active, significant, and authentic), or the account is actively subscribed to Twitter Blue.”

Currently, accounts verified under the old system can keep their blue badges.

By clicking on the blue tick that appear on different accounts, users will see a pop-up message indicating which of the two categories the person falls into.

Sky News has reached out to Twitter for comment.

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