Billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform Twitter will introduce an “Official” label for select verified accounts including major media outlets and governments when it launches its new $8 premium subscription product, it’s early-stage products executive Esther Crawford said on Tuesday.
Crawford further confirmed that users’ identities will not be verified by the updated Twitter Blue subscription service, which will allow paid users to display blue checkmarks on their accounts.
The lack of ID verification is likely to raise concerns about the possibility of people impersonating public figures.
According to Twitter’s head of safety and integrity, Yoel Roth, these concerns have already led Twitter to delay the release of the new version of Twitter Blue until after Tuesday’s US midterm elections.
Fake accounts for government officials are a recurring issue for Twitter globally, according to sources familiar with the matter and researchers.
According to Crawford, not all Twitter accounts that have previously been verified with a blue check mark will receive the “Official” label, and the label cannot be purchased.
Governments, businesses, business partners, significant media outlets, publishers, and certain other public figures are among the accounts that will acquire the official label, she tweeted.
The introduction of a new label alongside the existing check marks “creates a confusing system” where some, but not all, previously verified accounts will be deemed official, said Jason Goldman, a former Twitter board member who served as head of product in its early years.
“It’s a complete mess,” he said.
The official label comes after an internal campaign by Twitter policy executives who had serious reservations about the possibility and unwillingness of international governments to pay for verified check marks, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke to Reuters.
Twitter, which has lost many members of its communication team, did not respond to a request for further comment.
Crawford added on Tuesday that Twitter will “continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.”
