Twitter removes the verification mark from Beyoncé and Cristiano Ronaldo

2023-04-21 09:30:00, Tech CNA

Twitter removes the verification mark from Beyoncé and Cristiano Ronaldo

Illustrative photo

What do Beyoncé and Cristiano Ronaldo have in common? As of today, they no longer have the Twitter verification mark.

The social media giant began removing the verification mark from thousands of accounts on Thursday.

The move comes as owner Elon Musk tries to overhaul the social media company to turn a profit.

Users who want to keep the verification mark next to their name must pay $84 a year (£67) to subscribe to Twitter Blue.

The company first introduced the verification token feature in 2009 after a former professional baseball player sued the social media giant over fraudulent accounts.

The blue sign became a status symbol and a sign of authority. But in the new tweet, Musk wants users to pay to be verified.

The decision to monetize verification could bring about a massive cultural and power shift on the platform.

In the days leading up to the verification, Kanye West, Shaq and Ewan McGregor were among the first celebrities to speak out about their impersonation on Twitter. Now that badges are gone, a celebrity's follower count may become the only way to tell the difference between a celebrity and a fraud.

Within hours of being de-verified, an account posing as Hillary Clinton, complete with the same profile picture as the former US senator, "announced" that she was running for president again.

Under Twitter's new verification scheme, the gold, gray and blue badges are meant to provide more context about how an account was verified.

But the lack of verification is already causing confusion.

Experts warn that these are the types of posts that can lead to the spread of misinformation.

Musk has tried to frame the decision to remove verification as a way to democratize content on the site. But critics have argued that the move will amplify misinformation as Twitter Blue subscribers will be prioritized -

Musk has said that only verified accounts will appear on the For You page's featured stream.

Social media monitors and experts fear that increased paid verification will lead to an amplification of misinformation on the site. If that were to happen, it could scare away even more advertisers—and undermine any additional revenue Twitter is getting from its verification subscription model.

But Musk said the pain is part of the change.

"I feel like we're going to a good place," he told BBC News. "In general, I think the trend is very good"./ CNA.al