Twitter has pulled back on its plans to introduce paid verification for users after the platform became filled with fake “verified” users.
The site in recent days has seen a chaotic mix of parody accounts as it launched Twitter Blue in the second week after Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover. Among the most notable was a fake Tesla feed and one purporting to be former President George W. Bush that tweeted, “I miss killing Iraqis.”
It also announced it would add an “Official” label to some accounts — about 19 hours after it said such designations were not being handed out.
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. As of Friday, the iPhone app no longer shows an option to sign up for Twitter Blue.
While some users posted screenshots of the Twitter Support announcement with an “official” badge below the screen name, the tag was not visible to all users.
In addition, multiple users reported the new $8 subscription option for the blue verification check had disappeared, according to Reuters.
The quick suspension of the service suggests that, at least currently, CEO Elon Musk’s big plan to generate new revenue from users isn’t working as expected.
