Elon Musk: Twitter CEO announces changes to verification badge system

The chief executive officer of Tesla, Elon Musk departs from the Phillip Burton Federal Building located in San Francisco, California.

The head of Twitter, Elon Musk, has declared a significant alteration to the paid service offered on the social media platform known as Twitter Blue.

Starting on the 15th of April, exclusively authenticated followers will receive suggested posts and have the capability to participate in surveys.

According to the policy, tweets made from accounts that are not paying will not be featured in the "For you" section of suggested tweets.

The company stated recently that it would eliminate the verified status of certain "legacy" accounts from before Mr. Musk's purchase of the company.

At present, individuals are charged a monthly amount of $7 (£5.70) to obtain the blue tick verification symbol. This also includes the privilege of using supplementary functionalities.

According to Mr. Musk, modifying the current system is the solitary feasible approach to handle the issue of AI bot swarms taking control. If not, it would be a futile battle, with no chance of success.

According to him, verification will be necessary when participating in polls for the same purpose.

In a previous article, Mr. Musk stated that implementing paid verification would cause a significant rise in the expenses associated with using bots, while also simplifying the process of identifying them.

Nevertheless, certain individuals on social media have expressed disapproval towards the decision.

One individual who previously worked on Twitter's verification team and opted not to disclose their identity shared with the BBC: "Above all, our primary objective was safeguarding users from harm in the physical world, and this instance is the polar opposite of that."

Those who have been confirmed as authentic users may wield their strength and position on the platform to affect anything from falsified data to tangible damage to individuals across the globe. This is a covert danger that is going unnoticed, according to them.

A scrutiny container, written by James Clayton, a reporter who specializes in technology from North America.

Elon Musk had high aspirations for reinstating "free speech" when he assumed control of Twitter.

He desired the platform to possess utmost credibility and stated that it was not a means to earn profits.

However, the current approach taken by Twitter appears to be in conflict with those initial principles.

After acknowledging the challenge of boosting advertising profits, Musk shifted his focus towards implementing a subscription-based approach.

At first, the offer given to users was to provide them with verification in the form of a "blue tick" if they subscribed to a monthly payment plan.

However, the number of users who paid for the service did not increase significantly. Due to the decrease in advertising revenue and the unsuccessful subscription model, Musk has made the decision to take extreme measures.

Twitter has two distinct algorithms, one of which is the "For You" stream, which suggests tweets for you to read, and the other is the stream of tweets from the individuals that you have chosen to follow.

In simpler terms, Elon Musk's latest policy will prevent individuals who have not paid from accessing certain streams.

This suggests that Twitter accounts without verification are unlikely to receive many likes or retweets for their tweets.

Paired with Elon Musk's decreasing of fact verification measures, Twitter could find itself in a perilous situation.

I have had conversations with ex-workers who believe that this could be a huge opportunity for trolls and those spreading incorrect information.

This situation poses an inquiry about the existence of Twitter. Initially, Twitter was believed to be a reasonably fair platform where tweets gained popularity based on the quality of their content.

The aspect was integral to Twitter's triumph. However, at present, it seems to have been eradicated.

When Twitter Blue was first introduced in November, it was a complete mess. Some individuals began posing as famous companies and famous people and shelling out money for the blue check mark symbol just to appear real. A lot of them even presented themselves as Mr. Musk.

Twitter was compelled to stop the function in under seven days, prompting it to be reintroduced the next month.

The utilization of Twitter Blue is now prevalent among groups that are considered controversial, such as the Taliban officials and their high-profile advocates situated in Afghanistan.

Users who have been verified will have their tweets boosted above those of other accounts. Additionally, individuals who subscribe to the platform will be granted the ability to utilize exclusive features, such as the option to edit their tweets, as well as other benefits.

Earlier, the blue checkmark symbol was utilized to show that notable profiles were genuine. Twitter granted it for free, however, only the company had the authority to determine who was eligible for it.

Twitter announced last week that it will gradually discontinue its "legacy verified program" and take down certain "legacy verified checkmarks" starting from April 1st.

The company stated that individuals are required to pay in order to maintain the verification badge on their Twitter account.

Using bots on social media sites can negatively affect the platform's ability to increase their income from advertisements or paid subscriptions.

Mr. Musk frequently expresses worries about the abundance of false or junk accounts on Twitter. He once postponed his $44 billion proposal to acquire the social media site while questioning the quantity of automated accounts announced by the previous executive team.