Twitter Backs Down from April 1 End Date of Legacy Verification, Removes the New York Times’ Gold Checkmark
In true Musk-ian fashion, Twitter seems to have postponed the announced removal of legacy verification for the accounts of politicians, celebrities, notable figures, and organizations. The system was originally designed to verify the authenticity of these accounts and protect against impersonation.
According to Twitter owner Elon Musk in a now-deleted Tweet, these legacy-verified accounts won’t lose their checkmarks for “a few more weeks.” But added that “unless they say they tell they won’t pay now, in which we will remove it.”
This caveat was almost immediately applied to The New York Times’ main account after a user pointed out that the publication said it wouldn’t pay for a subscription — an ironic twist as The Times was also the first to report that according to internal documents, Twitter was planning to make legacy verification exemptions for the platform’s 10,000 most-followed organizations.
Only the publication’s main account has been de-verified as of this writing.
In the interim however, legacy and Twitter Blue users have seemingly been lumped together by the platform.
To keep their checkmarks, individual accounts will need to pay $8 a month or $84 a year for a Twitter Blue subscription, while organizations will be charged $1,000 per month + $50 each for their affiliate accounts.
Musk announced last week that beginning April 15 (but this may now also be subject to change), only verified accounts will be included in the platform’s ‘for you’ recommendations.
The exemptions that The Times saw would also reportedly include Twitter’s top 500 advertisers, a move that can be seen as an attempt by the company to claw back the 40% it has lost in advertising revenue.
Information for this briefing was found via Twitter, The New York Times, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
