(RoyalPatriot.com )- New Twitter owner Elon Musk announced recently that his social media platform would delay rolling out its new account verification plan until after the midterm elections are completely over.
A source who was involved in the decision told CNN this week that Twitter’s new paid Twitter Blue subscription plan would be put on hold for now.
The new feature will allow Twitter uses to pay a subscription fee on a monthly basis to have a blue checkmark listed on their profiles. Musk has said for a while now that he believes this plan would be a good way to fight back against spam on Twitter.
In the past, the blue checkmark was reserved for well-known people and companies, and was offered for free after a verification process was completed. It was used as a way to prove that an account actually belonged to the well-known person or organization that was purporting to run it.
Now, Twitter is offering it up to any user on the platform who’s willing to pay $7.99 each month for the feature.
According to the company’s description posted to its newest version of its app on the Apple App Store, the feature will allow any user to get the checkmark “just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.”
Not everyone has been receptive to the new plan. Many celebrities have said that they didn’t like the new plan, pointing out that there’s a big potential flaw in the system.
Sarah Silverman, a comedian who has a verified account on Twitter, used her account to troll Musk over the weekend. She copied his profile picture, name and cover image to show that it was quite easy for someone to pose as another verified person and just pay for the subscription.
As she tweeted:
“I am a freedom of speech absolutist and I eat doody for breakfast every day.”
She then re-tweeted a bunch of tweets that were supporting Democratic candidates for office. Her account was given a “temporarily restricted” label on Sunday, warning users that “there has been some unusual activity from this account.”
After Silverman changed her account back, the restriction was lifted.
Valerie Bertinelli, a TV actress, did the same thing to her account, changing the name to Musk’s on Friday, and then tweeting:
“[T]he blue checkmark simply meant your identity was verified. Scammers would have a harder time impersonating you. That no longer applies. Good luck out there!”
She later responded to another user by tweeting:
“[Y]ou can buy a blue check mark for $7.99 a month without verifying who you are.”
Musk tried to respond to these efforts on Sunday, tweeting:
“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonating without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.”
He further stated that any user who changes their name on Twitter would “cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.” Musk added that Twitter users would be suspended without receiving a warning going forward for these infractions.
