Elon Musk Sets Launch Date For New Twitter Verification System

deadline.com:

Elon Musk has confirmed that his new paid checkmark system for Twitter verification is “tentatively” scheduled to roll out on the platform next Friday, December 2nd.

Musk said on Friday that accounts for companies, government officials and entities, and individuals be marked with different colors — “gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.” The tech billionaire added that the switch-up in Twitter’s identity verification strategy is “painful, but necessary” — adding that “all verified individual humans will have same blue check, as boundary of what constitutes “notable” is otherwise too subjective.” Going forward, individuals will be able to apply for “a secondary tiny logo” confirming their ties to an organization, should they be verified by it. (“Longer explanation next week,” tweeted Musk.) A final point reiterated today by Musk is that “deliberate impersonation/deception” will be dealt with swiftly, by way of account suspension. “Organizational affiliation, bio and follower count distinguish between people who genuinely have the exact same name,” he said. “We shall see how it goes.” Musk first rolled out his $8 a month plan for Twitter verification back in November, though reports hinting at the move had surfaced earlier.

The move comes amid Musk’s campaign to strengthen Twitter’s financials following his acquisition of the platform for $44B. While Musk has spoken of it as a move away from a “lords & peasants system” of verification at Twitter — democratizing the tool for its users — it was swiftly condemned following its announcement by notable figures ranging from United States