Elon Musk to gatekeep Twitter's "For you" page for verified users only; Know more

Tesla CEO and new Twitter head Elon Musk announced that Twitter's “For You” page will now recommend only verified accounts. On Tuesday, the billionaire took to Twitter to announce the new update the social media giant is planning to push. He also asserted that the move will go on floor on April 15. In the tweet, Musk reasoned that this move is the “only realistic way” to address the issue of AI bot taking over the page. Musk also stated that the voting in the Twitter polls will also require verification. Last year, Musk introduced Twitter Blue, a subscription-based feature that charges $8 / per month for blue verification along with other features.

“Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in "For You" recommendations. This is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for the same reason,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday. “That said, it’s ok to have verified bot accounts if they follow terms of service & don’t impersonate a human,” he quipped in another tweet. Musk’s move to introduce the Twitter Blue subscription attracted a lot of attention and debate regarding the ethics of it all. Musk reasoned that he is making this move to generate more revenue for the social media networking platform which was struggling with a financial crisis when Musk took over. 

Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations.

This is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle.

Voting in polls will require verification for the same reason.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

That said, it’s ok to have verified bot accounts if they follow the terms of service & don’t impersonate a human

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

Musk predicts the outcome of the move

Musk’s Tuesday announcement garnered a lot of attraction on the social media platform, however, there were some who questioned Musk’s intentions and the relevance of the proposed update. “I don't get behind this decision. You need to invest money into talent and AI tech to detect bots on the platform. This isn't the way to go. It could tarnish the platform,” one Twitter user commented on Musk’s announcement tweet. The Tesla CEO then went on to respond to the tweet. “My prediction is that this will be the only platform you can trust,” the Twitter CEO responded. 

This is not the first time Musk announced his intention to keep the Twitter polls restricted to verified users only. In December Last year, when a Twitter user proposed that the polls should be only limited to the Twitter Blue subscribers, Musk agreed with the sentiment and wrote, “Good point. Twitter will make that change”. The idea was proposed when Musk posted a poll and asked users if he should step down as the CEO of Twitter. 

Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)