Esther Crawford, Twitter’s early stages executive, said on Tuesday that an “Official” label will be used to designate verified accounts, including governments and major news outlets, when the $8 premium subscription service becomes available.
According to Yoel Roth, Twitter’s safety and integrity head, the company withheld the launch of the new Twitter Blue subscription product until after the US midterm elections on Tuesday because of concerns about impersonating public figures.
A lot of folks have asked about how you'll be able to distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official, which is why we’re introducing the “Official" label to select accounts when we launch. pic.twitter.com/0p2Ae5nWpO
— Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) November 8, 2022
According to people familiar with the matter, fake government accounts are a frequent problem for Twitter globally. Crawford noted that the “Official” label will not be available for purchase and that it will be accessible to governments, large media outlets, companies, business associates, and other public figures.
According to a Reuters report, the social media platform Twitter will introduce a new $8 premium membership plan. The big media outlets and governments will be among the accounts that are verified and thus referred to as ‘Official’ on Twitter, according to Esther Crawford, the company’s early-stage products executive.
Blue checks will be available for individuals who pay for Twitter Blue, a new subscription service that won’t actually verify user identities.
While the official label won’t be available for purchase, some accounts will receive it and it won’t be available to everyone. It will be available for accounts including governments, commercial firms, business associations, major news outlets, and some other public figures.
It creates a confusing environment where some accounts will be deemed official but others won’t, according to Jason Goldman, a former Twitter board member and head of product in its early days. ‘It’s a complete mess,’ he said.
The new label is a result of an internal push by Twitter policy executives who had concerns regarding government officials worldwide paying for verified check marks, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. We will continue to experiment with methods to differentiate account types, Crawford said.
