Elon Musk’s recent overtake of social media platform, Twitter, has caused him a lot of prosecution and ridicule. The billionaire has introduced a
Elon Musk’s recent overtake of social media platform, Twitter, has caused him a lot of prosecution and ridicule.
The billionaire has introduced a subscription service on the app that allows any user to become verified for $8 a month, with no verification of identity. He calls it Twitter Blue.
Before the takeover, the blue verification check allowed celebrities to stop others from impersonating them.
Musk created two types of verification; one for those that were verified before his acquisition and those who have subscribed to Twitter Blue. The catch: the checks look exactly the same.
Senator Ed Markey claims that an account impersonating him was made and it was “quickly verified”. He criticizes Musk’s decision of the subscription, saying “Truth can’t be put on sale for $8.”
The senator claims that creating the subscription service is dangerous and will cause the platform to “become a breeding ground for manipulation and deceit.”
Other high profile celebrities have also faced the same problem of impersonation as Markey had. People like former president George W. Bush, Nintendo and Eli Lilly have also experienced impersonation.
To try and stop the wrath of these famous people, Twitter released gray labels on the real accounts to distinguish between the real and the fake. But this label was removed just hours later.
The labels came back Thursday afternoon, for the most part.
Big businesses like Twitter itself, Amazon, and Nike gained their labels quickly. Media outlets like the New York Times had them as of 9 p.m, but others are still yet to receive them.
