Twitter suspends $8 subscription programme for blue ticks 

Twitter has suspended the $8 subscription programme for blue ticks as there was an increasing number of fake accounts getting verified with a blue tick on Friday.

Hyderabad: Twitter has suspended the $8 subscription programme for blue ticks as there was an increasing number of fake accounts getting verified with a blue tick on Friday.

The social media platform had decided to charge $8 to users who wanted the premium blue tick verification badge, but as this plan was launched, many fake verified accounts came up on the platform, forcing Twitter to re-think its decision.

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Blue tick verification was provided to an account with the authentic presence of the public figure, celebrity, or brand it represents. After the introduction of the service, it was not the same as many took the advantage of this service and got themselves a verified batch.

An imposter account tweeted “insulin is free” after which pharmaceutical Eli Lilly & Co. tweeted an apology saying “We apologize to those who have been served misleading message from a fake Lilly account. Our official Twitter account is @LillyPad(sic).”

https://twitter.com/LillyPad/status/1590813806275469333?s=20&t=7RY3oBZ3WHx3WhqPhZV2nQ

Other than this, Nintendo, Lockheed Martin, Musk’s own Tesla, and Space X were also impersonated as well as the accounts of various known figures.

There are now two categories of blue ticks and they look identical. One includes the accounts verified before Musk’s takeover noting “This account is verified because it’s notable in government, news, entertainment or another designated category.” The other verified account is of the users who subscribed to the service of Twitter Blue at $8.

Elon Musk has also warned Twitter employees to be ready for long hours of work as the company looks toward bankruptcy. He warned that Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn if it fails to boost subscription revenue to offset falling advertising income.