Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, wrote about it in a tweet Sunday night. He offered no further explanation for how the system should be better protected against fake accounts that look deceptively real.
Twitter had only implemented the rearrangement of checkmarks announced by Musk on Wednesday. It has been given to celebrities, politicians and companies after an audit by Twitter so far.
According to the new model, anyone who pays eight dollars a month gets approval. No identity check. Either way, the tick looks the same. Whether you’re dealing with an old, truly verified account, or a new, purchased checkmark, it’s clear from the text only after clicking the icon.
Some users have created credible fake accounts with the ticks they bought – for example, for basketball star LeBron James, gaming company Nintendo, and former President Donald Trump. Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has apologized to Twitter users who, under a fake account, believed that insulin would be distributed free of charge in the future. An allegedly verified Chiquita fake account announced it had overthrown the Brazilian government.
Musk bought Twitter two weeks ago for about $44 billion. Since then, the company has struggled, among other things, with the reluctance of major advertising clients. Ad revenues accounted for nearly 90 percent of Twitter revenue recently. (SDA)