Madiha Yaqoob
On Tuesday, the CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk announced that Twitter will be implementing a new policy starting Saturday, April 15, where only posts originating from paid-for Twitter Blue accounts will be included in the platform’s recommended tweets. Accounts without verification will be excluded from the “For You” algorithmic feed going forward. In a post, Musk explained that this decision was the only way to tackle the increasing use of advanced AI bot swarms. He also revealed that verified accounts would be required to vote in polls. Earlier, Musk had expressed that paid verification could significantly raise the expenses associated with using bots and facilitate their detection.
Twitter Blue, which was relaunched in December, initially faced issues with accounts using blue checkmarks to impersonate high-profile individuals. To prevent impersonation, Twitter Blue subscribers now receive a blue checkmark after verifying their phone number and after their account has been reviewed. However, no form of official identification is required to verify ownership during the sign-up process, which has caused some users to question Musk’s decision to block unverified accounts.
Last week, Twitter declared its plans to phase out the “legacy” verified program and eliminate “legacy verified” blue badges by April 1st.
Since taking over as CEO, Musk has made Twitter Blue a crucial policy of the platform, seeking to find new ways to generate revenue. However, the market price of Twitter has reportedly fallen since Musk took over. Last week, he informed employees in an email memo that Twitter’s valuation is now $20 billion, which is less than half of the $44 billion he paid for the company last year. Following user backlash, Musk later tweeted that accounts followed directly will also appear in the “For You” tab.
