JAKARTA - Twitter Inc has finally officially stopped its $8 blue check subscription service, which was announced on Friday, November 11, because fake accounts are mushrooming. Now the new social media owner, Elon Musk, wants to return the "official" badge to some social media platform users.
The previously coveted blue ticks are provided for verified accounts from politicians, famous figures, journalists, and other public figures. But subscription options, open to anyone willing to pay to get a blue tick launched earlier this week to help Twitter increase revenue as Musk struggles to keep advertisers.
Flip-flops has been part of a two-week mess on Twitter since Musk completed the platform's acquisition. Musk has fired nearly half of his Twitter employees, removed his senior board and executives, and stepped up prospects for Twitter bankruptcy. The US Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday 10 November that it is now overseeing Twitter with "deep concern".
Some users reported last Friday that a new subscription option for a blue verification checkmark had disappeared, while sources told Reuters the offer had been canceled. Twitter itself did not reply to a request for comment from the media.
A fake account claiming to be a big brand has come up with a blue tick since the launch of this new feature, including Musk's Tesla and SpaceX, as well as Roblox, Nestle and Lockheed Martin.
"To combat impersonation, we have added 'Resmi' labels to several accounts," tweeted a Twitter support account - which has a "official" tag - tweeted on Friday.
The label was originally introduced on Wednesday - but was " KILLED" by Musk a few hours later.
We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account. Our official Twitter account is @LillyPad.
— Eli Lilly and Company (@LillyPad) November 10, 2022
Drugmaker Eli airs and Co issued an apology after a fake account tweeted that insulin would be free, amid political reactions and scrutiny over high drug prices.
"We apologize to those who received the misleading message from fake media accounts," the company said, repeating its Twitter handle name.
A number of misleading tweets about Tesla from verified accounts with the same profile photo as the company's official accounts are also circulating on the platform.
"Twitter has been working for the last few years to fix that (misinformation). And it looks like Elon Musk has damaged it in a matter of weeks," said AJ Bauer, a professor at the University of Alabama.
Musk said Twitter users involved in imitators without clearly mentioning them as "parodies" accounts would be permanently suspended without warning. Several fake brand accounts, including the Nintendo and the mock BP, have also been suspended.
Pada Kamis, dalam email pertamanya di seluruh perusahaan, Musk memperingatkan bahwa Twitter tidak akan dapat "berhan dari penurunan ekonomi yang akan datang" jika gagal meningkatkan pendapatan sublanjut untuk membalankan penurunan pendapatan iklan ak.
Many companies, including General Motors and United Airlines, have quit or withdrawn from advertising on the platform since Musk took over. In response, the billionaire said on Wednesday that it aims to turn Twitter into a power for truth and stop fake accounts.
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