Thread by @digiphile

Twitter added verification to prevent impersonation: being @verified confirms authentic identity, not truthfulness or authority.

@ev @jack & @paraga neglected it, but @elonmusk’s approach to @TwitterBlue enables impersonation, as @geoffreyfowler showed: washingtonpost.com/technology/202…

Today, @elonmusk confirmed @SenMikeLee's personal Twitter account was mistakenly suspended today for impersonation.

It's Musk's fault.

Lee, @CNN @thehill & others omit a key detail that explains what happened: @BasedMikeLee was @verified through @TwitterBlue, not @TwitterGov.

No #AprilFools: @Twitter to remove @verified status from journalists, after enabling anonymous accounts to spread misinformation & lies using @elonmusk’s ill-designed pay-to-get-seen system “to expand their reach while creating the illusion of credibility” apnews.com/article/ohio-t…

News media should make it clearer that Musk’s animus towards journalists is being expressed through removing @verified status, as with his attempts to delegitimize journalism & outlets which holds him to account.

TBD? How many outlets pay him to get seen: view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/16796…

Notes from @TechmemeChatter: techmeme.com/230323/p33#a23…
-Nonprofits & local governments can’t or won’t pay $1000/month + $50/account for @verified status
-@TwitterBlue hasn’t shipped new features
-Removing verification on #AprilFoolsDay is fraught; beware impersonation & fraud

Lewinsky is one of many public figures in the USA who will face impersonation if @Twitter goes ahead with Musk’s unwise plan to de-@verify people & organizations who don’t pay for @TwitterBlue.
(It will be worse in other nations, given
@TwitterSafety & @TwitterSupport capacity.)

We should expect impersonation, fraud, & phishing to result from enabling people to add @verified to a plausible namespace to spike on #AprilFoolsDay.

If public trust diminishes & platform integrity erodes as rumors, conspiracies, & hoaxes spread, users & advertisers will leave.

As I told the @AP, the reason @verified status exists on @Twitter was not to designate people as notable or authorities, but to prevent impersonation: apnews.com/article/elon-m… There shouldn’t be a different standard, but public figures will be impersonated. It won’t be “glorious.”

It won’t be “glorious” on #AprilFoolsDay if @Twitter removes @verified status from all who don’t pay — likely to be the vast majority of ~419K verified accounts.

Instead, Musk’s expectation that celebs + consumers will pay for a key free feature will be exposed as delusional.

IMO, alienating & downranking celebrities, politicians, & journalists who tweet free content is one of the most foolish things the owner of a social media platform based on ads can do — much less @Twitter.
(I don’t think it’s a wise approach for a subscription-based app, either.)

As @MikeIsaac & @sarafischer note, Musk’s announcement parallels what @Meta did on @facebook years ago: it’s “pay for play.” axios.com/2023/03/28/soc…
If a person, corporation, or government pays for @TwitterBlue, it’s akin to advertising: you’re sponsoring your tweets in For You.

Musk’s @Twitter 2.0™ User Experience, Coming April 2023
-“For You” tab promoting @TwitterBlue tweets + 💛corporations
-“Following” tab with an algorithmic feed of accounts you follow
-Less @TwitterSupport & @TwitterSafety moderation
-Secret VIP promotion:
open.substack.com/pub/platformer…

This news that Twitter 2.0™ has a secret VIP list was brought to light by @ZoeSchiffer & @CaseyNewton at @platformer, which has been a must-read on tech + democracy & @Twitter’s long, strange descent for many months:
open.substack.com/pub/platformer… NB: Great editors link out to scoops!

Fraud makes follower count a flawed metric: e-pluribusunum.org/2011/08/01/unt…
…but the *lack* of followers for paid subscribers is interesting.
@travisbrown estimated to @mashable that there are ~475K @TwitterBlue subscribers.
Of ~420K @verified accounts, he estimated ~1.5% paid for Blue.

"The more @Twitter erects subscription barriers, the less it will serve as the 'global town square' @elonmusk has envisioned"-@scottros
axios.com/newsletters/ax…
"When @verified just means someone paid a small fee, the door is open that much wider to misinformation,hoaxes &frauds"

@Twitter @elonmusk @scottros @verified A symbol – a white check on a blue background – was never the core value of @verified status.

Losing ✅ is not a big deal.

Authenticity & protection against suspension from malicious reporting for spam or abuse is useful.

@Twitter's new ownership doesn't grok what's valuable.

@Twitter @elonmusk @scottros @verified Musk was wrong.
Media outlets aren't paying.

@oliverdarcy reports @nytimes @latimes @BuzzFeedNews & @politico will not pay for or reimburse staff for @TwitterBlue:

@TwitterBlue is a way to promote tweets & tweet longer, not to be @verified as authentic.

For $1000/month + $50/account, organizations can pay @Twitter to… “reach their followers.”
help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt…
NB:
-“Twitter reserves the right without notice to remove your checkmark at any time at its sole discretion”
-Organizations have access to Premium @TwitterSupport

Charging people to be @verified was always a bad idea:

A Premium version with more features makes sense when there is a clear return of value (no ads?) for $.

Charging global celebrities who create value every time they tweet & engage with people is…🤷‍♂️

“It is our understanding that @TwitterBlue does not provide person-level verification as a service”-@RFlaherty46
“a blue check mark will now…serve as a verification that the account is a paid user”
TBD: how/if @OMBPress advises agencies to get ✔️Official: help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-p…

I joined @Twitter in March 2007.

The company began recommending me on its Suggested Users List for technology in 2010.

@TwitterSupport @verified me as “me”in 2015, after I joined @HuffPost.

(@facebook & @Google had verified me in 2011.)

Twitter added ambiguity in April 2023.

April 20 was indeed the Great Unverification.
Unclear how many of the ~400K+ @verified accounts overall have paid for @TwitterBlue, but many folks I follow have not.
I bet we will see unverified local, state, & federal government agencies & officials looking for grey checks soon.

That was fast: @Twitter unverified the @USCPSC.

Ridiculous, & embarrassing. (Also, hilarious: give this staffer a raise.)

Every US government agency should be @verified through @Digital_Gov open.gsa.gov/api/digital-re… & have a label in April 2023.

Unverifying US gov’t is unwise.

I expected the Great #Unverification to be bumpy, given layoffs & departures, but there’s some poor governance on display:
@Twitter unverified @USNatArchives, @FCC Chair @JRosenworcelFCC’s official account, @FTC Chair @linakhanFTC’s official account, & @SECGov Chair @GaryGensler

While I’m not surprised that Donald Trump didn’t pay @elonmusk to be @verified as a @TwitterBlue subscriber, I am surprised that @Twitter chose to unverifying @realDonaldTrump instead of giving him a grey check, as it has many personal/campaign accounts of Members of Congress.

I see @Twitter 2.0 unverified @SpeakerRyan & @SpeakerBoehner — unlike in the executive branch, they got to keep their official US government accounts. (@SpeakerMcCarthy @SpeakerPelosi have grey checks.)

@congressdotgov @LibnOfCongress @LawLibCongress @usgaolegal now unverified.

The @DeptofDefense @NASA & @StateDept have a @verified “organization” status in a way other US government accounts are not: @SecDef @SenBillNelson & @SecBlinken @USAmbUN @USAmbHRC are “affiliated” with their agencies.

(@WhiteHouse & its now unverified official accounts are not.)

A new @Princeton study analyzed 15 million tweets in October 2022 & found how different @TwitterBlue subscribers are from the ~406K formerly @verified users, from account creation date to crypto promotion to political lean to journalists (biggest delta):
cs.princeton.edu/~jrmayer/paper…

The deverification of official government accounts by @Twitter is one of the worst decisions I’ve seen by a tech company in 3 decades online: bad for business, bad for consumers, bad for democracy & civic integrity.

They all should have free grey checks.
washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/…

Reverifying celebrities & media with huge following is…not the turn I was expecting today.

The end result: many of @Twitter’s most popular users are now tweeting that they didn’t pay, & don’t want people to think they did.

One of the biggest self-owns in Internet history 👏

This week, @Meta nudged me to “get a verified badge” on @instagram, offering “extra account security,” “direct support,” & lmore stickers,” for just $14.99 (!).

No, thank you.

@facebook verified me long ago, & knows exactly who I am.

I’m not giving @finkd $ to be me, either.

Spot-on analysis by @b_fung of the disastrous business decisions Musk has made, from misunderstanding why accounts were @verified to alienating the key group of people who drove engagement & thus advertising revenue: cnn.com/2023/04/24/tec… He made a status symbol & brand toxic.

Only one caveat in @b_fung’s analysis:

There was never a world where the @WhiteHouse or @POTUS or @StephenKing or @KingJames or @Pontifex was not going to be @verified if they didn’t pay @Twitter.

It was always a terrible business decision to tie identity to subscription status

In April 2023, a @policy @esthercrawford issued remains in effect: a select, opaque group of governments, companies, media, & “some public figures” stay @verified — unless the sysadmin (@elonmusk) feels like unverifying, verifying, or trolling the people who gave @Twitter tweets.

Unverifying previously @verified governors, heads of state, foreign ministers, & federal agencies was spectacularly boneheaded.
washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/…

@Twitter should have ensured official accounts kept a grey official check, standardized the labels, & extended to all nations.

TIL @Twitter re-@verified @USNatArchives & @librarycongress with Official "grey check" – but not @LibnOfCongress & @LawLibCongress.
I wonder if @TwitterGov expects federal, state, & local agencies, officials, & candidates to re-apply: help.twitter.com/en/managing-yo…
(404 @TwitterComms)

“If the old criteria was much more rigorous, then the people who have been using Twitter would have understood [@verified] to mean something it no longer means. To be an FTC violation as deceptive, what matters is how people interpret it" qz.com/elon-musk-is-c… False endorsement

Every US government account should be authenticated with a grey check using @USGSA API: digital.gov/services/u-s-d…
Every campaign account should be verified, for free.
Tech companies, including @Twitter, should not charge to identify campaigns or governments.
washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/…

It's fine to charge for premium services & features for @TwitterBlue – but tying identity to whether people pay remains terrible @policy.

Right way to do it remains the same.

If @elonmusk wants a level playing field, verify all registered candidates.

No official or government agency should have been unverified by @Twitter & have to reapply for a ☑️.

@TwitterGov spent years building @verified status as a trust indicator; @TwitterSafety added labels for context.

Changes corroding civic integrity here.
govtech.com/policy/post-bl…

Twitter’s conflation of ID & subscribers means “checks, colors & meanings are a mess, which increases the risk that people will either be misled by a fake government account or less trusting of a real government account. That’s a lose-lose”-@jonathanmayer
govtech.com/policy/post-bl…

The de-verification of official government accounts by @Twitter is one of the worst decisions I’ve seen by a tech company in 3 decades online: bad for business, bad for consumers, bad for democracy & civic integrity.

This will be clearer in natural disasters, wars, & elections.

As I’ve said for years, @ev @jack & @paraga’s neglect of @verified system was a huge problem: they allowed ✅for identify to be conflated with status & accuracy.

@elonmusk made it much worse by confusing identity with @TwitterBlue, removing labels, & unverifying institutions.

As I told @LindsayCrudele, @elonmusk’s decisions to “boost” paying @TwitterBlue subscribers — who lean overwhelmingly to the right & love cryptocurrency — remove curbs from state media propaganda, & unverify journalists all changed what @Twitter amplifies.
govtech.com/policy/post-bl…

Uncommonly good column by @cwarzel on status & social media: theatlantic.com/technology/arc… He speaks to the importance of being earnest on @bluesky & the degradation of @Twitter, among other things.