Updated November 22nd, 2022 at 16:12 IST

Musk pauses Twitter blue tick relaunch, may use different colour check for organisations

Elon Musk said that he is putting the relaunch of Blue Verified on hold until there is a strong level of assurance that impersonation will no longer occur

Reported by: Anwesha Majumdar
Image: AP/ shutterstock | Image:self
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently acquired the microblogging company Twitter, stated on Tuesday that he is putting the relaunch of Blue Verified on hold until there is a strong level of assurance that impersonation will no longer occur. Taking to Twitter, the new CEO of the social media site made this announcement. Furthermore, he announced that Twitter may utilise separate color checks for businesses and people.  

Elon Musk in a tweet said, “Holding off relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation. Will probably use different color check for organizations than individuals.” 

Furthermore, it is pertinent to note that before Musk took over Twitter on October 27, the blue tick was granted to public figures, elected officials, and other celebrities once the network had verified their accounts. 

Besides this, a move to keep sponsors and increase income was the $8 membership charge that was announced on November 6. 

Musk introduces the option to but a blue tick

Musk introduced the option for individuals to buy a blue tick verified through Twitter Blue after seizing control of the microblogging service. The Verge reported that Musk's idea led to the impersonation of prominent accounts, including Twitter's advertisers, despite internal cautions from Twitter's own trust and safety personnel. However, the action resulted in an increase in fake accounts, which forced Twitter to briefly suspend the service. 

Since Musk acquired control of Twitter, the microblogging platform has started placing and deleting distinct, grey checkmarks on prominent accounts without providing an explanation. 

The Verge further quoted a recording of Elon Musk telling Twitter staff on Monday that the business won't restart its paid verification service, Twitter Blue unless they are "confident about significant impersonations not happening." 

Elon Musk said last week that his $8 monthly Blue membership would start on November 29. However, he acknowledged at his discussion with staff that it was unclear when Blue Verified will launch, according to a report from The Verge. “We might launch it next week. We might not. But we’re not going to launch until there’s high confidence in protecting against those significant impersonations,” citing Musk, Verge reported.  

Apart from this, earlier, Musk noted that the blue check would be lost if someone changes their verified name with the new update "until the name is confirmed by Twitter to meet terms of service".  

(Image: AP/ Shutterstock)

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Published November 22nd, 2022 at 16:12 IST