Twitter Brings Back "Official" Badge, Appears To Pause $8 Verification Program
Twitter on Friday said that it has reinstated the "official" badge given to some accounts, and appears to have paused the new $8 subscription, after a flood of fake accounts began spoofing corporations and notable individuals.
Fake accounts impersonated companies such as Eli Lilly, Nestle, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX and Musk's Tesla.
For example:
Can you imagine spending $44 billion to do this to yourself pic.twitter.com/REMzs0vT19
— Alanis King (@alanisnking) November 11, 2022
Their handle: Lockheed Martini 😂🤣 @LockheedMartini #parody pic.twitter.com/pb2P8j8R9P
— The Bern Identity (@bern_identity) November 11, 2022
Eli Lilly later apologized "to those who have been served a misleading message."
We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account. Our official Twitter account is @LillyPad.
— Eli Lilly and Company (@LillyPad) November 10, 2022
Other accounts impersonated famous people:
Big day for the politicians of my youth pic.twitter.com/MHoiW9QVbb
— Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN (@JoshuaPHilll) November 10, 2022
Days after Musk announced that he had "killed" the new "official" label, Twitter's support account tweeted on Friday that "To combat impersonation, we've added an 'Official' label to some accounts."
Meanwhile, users reported that they were unable to sign up for the $8 Twitter Blue subscription service that comes with blue tick verification.
"Checked with Twitter's API (application programming interface) and the in-app purchase for Twitter Blue Verified is no longer listed for production," tweeted app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, according to Reuters.
Twitter seems to have unlaunched the new $7.99 Twitter Blue subscription
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) November 11, 2022
Checked with Twitter’s API and the in-app purchase for Twitter Blue Verified is no longer listed for production
On Sunday, Musk told Twitter users that engaging in impersonation without clearly noting it as a "parody" in the account name would lead to a permanent suspension without warning.
While some had disclosed it was a parody account in their description, several other fake brand accounts including that of Nintendo and BP were suspended.
Earlier in the day, Musk said his companies will be well-positioned in 2023 despite the possibility of a tough economy. -Reuters
On Thursday, Musk raised the possibility of Twitter going Bankrupt, saying in his first company-wide email that the company would not be able to "survive the upcoming economic downturn" if it can't boost subscription revenue to offset falling advertising income.
