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☆ Twitter's trust and safety team sent Elon Musk a 7-page list of the risks with his paid verification system, and he launched it anyway: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter warned Elon Musk of the dangers in his new badge system before its launch, per Platformer. The trust and safety team said the rework would give rise to impersonation issues and confusion. The warning came from Twitter's trust and safety staff a week before the billionaire implemented his overhauled verification system, per Platformer. In their recommendations, the trust and safety team warned of "impersonation of world leaders, advertisers, brand partners, election officials, and other high profile individuals," according to Platformer. In its memo, the trust and safety team also highlighted the consequences of removing checkmarks from accounts that were already verified before Musk bought Twitter, according to Platformer.

☆ Chaos unchecked: A comprehensive timeline of Elon Musk's Twitter verification saga - for now
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Elon Musk's revamped Twitter Blue launch has hit some major snags in the past week. The shenanigans surrounding the blue check (and subsequent gray check) has heads spinning among average Twitter users, major advertisers and big-name celebrities. Here's a look at everything that's happened with Twitter Blue in the past week and the murky state of verification on the platform. Musk's new verification model was designed to become part of Twitter's existing Twitter Blue feature, a $4.99 monthly subscription offering premium services. He also said that Twitter is adding a "parody subscript," because "tricking people is not ok."It is unclear when and how Twitter Blue may be reinstated.

☆ Twitter is reportedly suspending the ability to purchase $8 verified checkmarks as it grapples with a wave of accounts trolling brands and famous people
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

After launching early this week, some verified accounts started impersonating famous people and companies. Early Friday, iOS Twitter users noticed Twitter Blue sign-ups were no longer available on the app. Early on Friday, Twitter users were saying the sign-up for Twitter Blue was no longer available on the iOS app. Security researcher Jane Manchun Wong tweeted at 1:53AM Friday morning that the social media app "seems to have unlaunched" Twitter Blue. "Checked with Twitter's API and the in-app purchase for Twitter Blue Verified is no longer listed for production," she tweeted.

☆ How the same mistake led to thousands of layoffs across the Tech industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tech CEOs all made the same dumb mistake, and it's cost thousands of jobs. In his first remarks to Twitter employees, Musk said that the service's success is far from guaranteed and that bankruptcy is an option. Meta insiders say they have little to no visibility into who, exactly, got let go in the culling of 11,000 jobs. Shopping on social media is the wave of the future; just ask Elon Musk. Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom.

☆ Twitter pauses paid verifications after users abuse service to impersonate brands and people
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sofia Pitt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Twitter appears to have paused its $7.99/month Blue subscription service, which allowed people to pay for a verification check mark, after users were abusing it to impersonate brands and famous people. Twitter launched the service earlier this week in its iPhone app, allowing users to buy a checkmark that had previously been used to show that an account was verified or official. The paid subscription service led to a plethora of pranksters creating imposter accounts on Twitter. It left the platform even more ripe for misinformation, and many checkmarks were used to impersonate brands with unflattering messages. Some users who already paid for the service say their paid-for blue checkmark has disappeared from their account.

☆ Sen. Markey demands answers from Musk on Twitter imposters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Ed Markey demanded answers from Twitter owner Elon Musk about its new verification and impersonation policies Friday after a Washington Post reporter successfully set up a fake verified account pretending to be the Massachusetts Democrat. Twitter appeared to have paused the $7.99/month Twitter Blue verification program shortly after the Post ran its test as impersonations of celebrities and brands proliferated across the platform. The account received a blue verified checkmark, even though Markey already has two legitimate verified accounts. Even though the blue check is supposed to be a feature of the paid Twitter Blue, the Post reporter found that Twitter said the fake Markey account was verified "because it's notable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category." "Safeguards such as Twitter's blue checkmark once allowed users to be smart, critical consumers of news and information in Twitter's global town square," Markey wrote in his letter to Musk.

Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty have also resigned, according to an internal message seen by Reuters. He announced plans to cut half its workforce last week, promised to stop fake accounts and is charging $8 a month for the Twitter Blue service that will include a blue check verification. "We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern," Douglas Farrar, the FTC's director of public affairs, told Reuters. "Elon puts rockets into space, he's not afraid of the FTC," the attorney quoted Spiro as saying. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment on the FTC warning, the note from the attorney or the departures.

☆ Tumblr trolls Elon Musk's blue checkmark fiasco by selling two blue checkmarks for $7.99
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tumblr's staff introduced "Important Blue Internet Checkmarks" in a dig at Elon Musk and Twitter. Twitter's $8 blue checkmark subscription rollout has faced some criticism and mockery. The social media platform introduced "Important Blue Internet Checkmarks" on its "staff" account Thursday. The disclaimer attached to the $7.99 price for the two blue checkmarks says, "This is not a verification status; it's an Important Blue Internet Checkmark, which in 2022 is just as legit. Also the Important Blue Internet Checkmark may turn into a bunch of crabs at any time" with a crab emoji.

At Elon Musk's Twitter, users will soon need to pay $7.99 per month for its Twitter Blue subscription service to gain a blue checkmark — long recognized as a sign of "verification" on the platform. But will any currently verified users actually pay? To find out, CNBC Make It reached out to two dozen verified and active Twitter users, mostly influencers and journalists across the political spectrum. Other users are simply balking at the idea of paying to be "verified" on Twitter, after years of it being free. On Monday, Musk promised permanent bans for users who impersonate others without labeling their accounts as parody — after several high-profile Twitter users edited their accounts to mimic Musk's own.

Less than 24 hours after implementing new gray "official" checkmark tags to some prominent Twitter accounts, platform owner Elon Musk has decided to remove them. But by noon on Wednesday, Musk tweeted to a user that he had decided to “kill” those checkmarks. The "official" checkmarks quickly disappeared. Crawford then clarified that the "official" checkmarks would still be used in the future but that they would be initially focused on adding them to "government and commercial entities." “Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months,” Musk tweeted Wednesday.

☆ Twitter is rolling out its new gray checkmarks for 'official' accounts, including famous athletes, politicians like AOC, and news outlets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter is rolling out a new gray checkmark designating "official" accounts. It appeared that official accounts were gradually receiving the updated gray tag Wednesday. Musk intends to remodel the Twitter Blue subscription model, and charge users $7.99 per month for the traditional blue Twitter checkmark and other features. A blue check will mean the user simply signed up for the new Twitter Blue. It's unclear if the new Twitter Blue has officially launched, but Twitter has previously said it plans to roll out the overhaul after the midterm elections.

☆ Twitter's rollout of its new gray checkmark for 'official' accounts is off to a confusing start, with Elon Musk saying he 'killed it' and a product manager rushing to clarify it's still happening
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk told a YouTuber who noticed his new gray checkmark disappear that he had 'killed it." But a Twitter product manager clarified that the gray tag would still be rolling out. Not long after the new gray checkmarks started rolling out to many Twitter accounts on Wednesday, they began disappearing from some accounts. Elon Musk, Twitter's new owner, responded "I just killed it," to a tweet from Youtuber and tech reviewer Marques Brownlee, who had seen his own gray checkmark disappear. Musk has said that the new Twitter Blue would cost $7.99 per month, and include the blue checkmark and other features.

☆ Twitter will distinguish 'verified' Twitter Blue accounts from 'official' accounts with different colored check marks, product manager says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter will distinguish between Twitter Blue "verified" accounts and "official" accounts with different check marks. Not all verified accounts will get an "Official" label, which is not available for purchase, Crawford said. The change has not yet been made to the current Twitter profile, as the Twitter Blue changes are set to roll out on November 9. "Not all previously verified accounts will get the "Official" label and the label is not available for purchase," Crawford added. "Accounts that will receive it include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures."

☆ Elon Musk said charging $8 a month for Twitter verification might be 'a dumb decision, but we'll see'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk hosted a Twitter Space "town hall" with advertisers where he shared his plans for Twitter. Musk talked about making users pay $8 for a blue checkmark, and said it might be "a dumb decision." He said charging users for verification will make it too expensive for trolls to make fake accounts. Musk announced in a November 1 tweet about "Twitter's current lords & peasants system" that the revamped Twitter Blue subscription, which will give subscribers a blue checkmark, would be $8 a month. Creating a fake account on Twitter is cheap, Musk said, and "hundreds of millions" of them are made every year.

☆ Twitter exec says there will soon be three types of accounts: official, paid, and unlabeled
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Some originally verified accounts will soon sport an "official" label, she said, while any user who pays $7.99 per month for Twitter Blue, the company's subscription product, will sport a blue checkmark. Musk himself has benefitted from having the Twitter verification checkmark. Under Musk's direction, the new Twitter Blue checkmark will instead work as a paying subscriber badge that the company nonetheless plans to call "verification." "The new Twitter Blue does not include ID verification – it's an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features. "Not all previously verified accounts will get the 'Official' label and the label is not available for purchase.

☆ French minister says will not pay for Twitter's blue checkmark
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It said those who "sign up now" can receive the checkmark next to their user names, "just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow". Before Musk took over, a blue checkmark next to a user name meant Twitter had confirmed the account belonged to the person or company claiming it. Like nearly all French government ministers, Veran has a verified Twitter account with a blue checkmark beside his name. French President Emmanuel Macron's @EmmanuelMacron account, also verified, has 8.8 million followers. Most French ministries, government offices and agencies, departments and prefectures also have verified Twitter accounts, as do many towns, cultural institutions and even Paris metro lines.

☆ Twitter is already rolling out Elon Musk's divisive $7.99 blue check paid verification subscription
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

According to an updated description of the Twitter app in the Apple App store, a blue check mark will cost $7.99. According to an updated description of the Twitter app that appeared on the Apple App store Saturday afternoon, the company is adding new features to Twitter Blue "starting today." "Starting today, we're adding great new features to Twitter Blue, and have more on the way soon," the app description reads. "Get Twitter Blue for $7.99/month if you sign up now. "Far too many legacy 'verified' checkmarks were handed out, often arbitrarily, so in reality they are *not* verified," Musk wrote.

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