There may be worries regarding the possibility of impersonating public personalities due to the lack of ID verification. Fake accounts for public figures are a persistent problem for Twitter worldwide.
According to Twitter's early-stage products executive Esther Crawford, when the social media site debuts its new $8 premium subscription offering, it will add an "Official" badge to a select group of verified accounts, such as major media outlets and governments.
Crawford further affirmed that users' identities will not be verified by the updated Twitter Blue subscription service, which will allow paid users to display blue checkmarks on their accounts. According to Twitter's head of safety and integrity, Yoel Roth, these worries have already led Twitter to delay the release of the new version of Twitter Blue until after Tuesday's US midterm elections.
According to Crawford, not all Twitter accounts that have previously been verified with a blue check mark will receive the "Official" designation, and the label cannot be purchased. Governments, businesses, business partners, significant media outlets, publishers, and certain other public figures are among the accounts that will acquire the official label, she tweeted.
The addition of a new label alongside the current check marks "creates a confusing system" in which some, but not all, previously verified accounts will be regarded as official, according to Jason Goldman, a former member of the Twitter board who worked as head of product in the company's early years. "It's a complete mess," he said.
The official designation is the result of an internal campaign by Twitter policy executives who, according to a source, were very worried about governments around the world being unlikely and unwilling to pay for verified check marks.
An inquiry for additional comment was not answered by Twitter, which has lost numerous members of its communication team. Tuesday's statement from Crawford also stated that Twitter would "continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types".
The redesigned premium service appeared to have launched momentarily over the weekend, as the social media business stated in an update for Apple iOS devices on Saturday that anyone who "sign up now" to its premium "Twitter Blue" service will receive a blue tick.
Other improvements to the premium service included promises of halving the number of advertisements, enabling the posting of lengthier films, and giving platform-posted material priority.
However, it was revealed the next day that the firm has postponed implementing the new verification procedure until after the U.S. midterm elections out of concern that false "verified" accounts would surface acting as news organizations or politicians.
