In an update for Apple iOS devices, Twitter said users who “sign up now” can get a blue checkmark next to their names “just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.” So far, verified accounts don’t seem to be losing their checks. Whoever can get the blue check could lead to confusion and an increase in misinformation ahead of Tuesday’s election, if possible, with scammers paying for the subscription and using the names of politicians and election officials. Along with the widespread layoffs that began Friday, many fear that the social platform used by civil services, election boards, police departments and news outlets to keep people reliably informed could become illegal if surveillance and content verification removed. The change represents the end of Twitter’s current verification system, which was launched in 2009 to prevent impersonation of high-profile accounts such as celebrities and politicians. Before the overhaul, Twitter had about 423,000 verified accounts, many of which were journalists from around the world who were verified by the company regardless of how many followers they had. Experts have raised serious concerns about the overhaul of the platform’s verification system, which, while not perfect, helped Twitter’s 238 million daily users determine whether the accounts they received information from were authentic. People walk outside Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco on Friday. (Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press) Current verified accounts include celebrities, athletes, influencers, and other high-profile public figures, along with government agencies and politicians around the world, journalists and news agencies, activists, and businesses and brands. The update Twitter made to the iOS version of its app doesn’t mention verification as part of the new “blue check” system. Musk, who earlier said he wants to “verify all people” on Twitter, argued that public figures would be identified in ways other than a blue check. Currently, for example, government officials are identified by text under names that state they are posting from an official government account. President Joe Biden’s @POTUS account, for example, says in gray letters that it belongs to a “United States government official.”
Mass layoffs
The change comes a day after the company began laying off workers to cut costs and as more companies stop advertising on Twitter as a wary corporate world waits to see how it will fare under its new owner. About half of the company’s 7,500-strong workforce has been laid off, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of security and integrity, tweeted. He said the company’s frontline content coordination staff was the group least affected by the job cuts and that “election integrity efforts — including harmful disinformation that can suppress voting and combating information operations that supported by the state – remain a top priority’. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey on Saturday took responsibility for such widespread job losses. He had two runs as CEO of Twitter, with the most recent spanning from 2015 to 2021. “I’m responsible for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the size of the company too fast,” he tweeted. “I apologize for that.” People on Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I understand that many are angry with me. I am responsible for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the size of the company too quickly. I apologize for that. —@jack Musk tweeted late Friday that there was no choice but to cut jobs “when the company is losing over $4 million a day.” He did not give details of the daily losses at the company and said that the workers who lost their jobs were offered three months’ severance pay. Meanwhile, Twitter has already seen a “massive drop in revenue” due to pressure from activist groups on advertisers to leave the platform, Musk wrote on Friday. This hits Twitter hard because of its heavy reliance on advertising to make money. In the first six months of this year, nearly $92 out of every $100 in revenue came from advertising. United Airlines has become the latest major brand to stop advertising on Twitter. The Chicago-based company confirmed on Saturday that it had made the move, but declined to discuss the reasons for it or what it would need to see to continue advertising on the platform. WATCHES | Musk begins cutting Twitter’s global workforce:
Elon Musk begins plan to cut half of Twitter’s global workforce
Newly appointed Twitter CEO Elon Musk began pushing his plan to cut up to half of the company’s global workforce, starting with widespread layoffs at the social networking company on Friday. It became part of a growing list of major companies to stop advertising on Twitter, including General Motors, REI, General Mills and Audi. Musk tried to reassure advertisers last week, saying Twitter won’t become a “free-for-all” because of what he calls its commitment to free speech. However, concerns remain about whether a lighter touch on content moderation on Twitter will result in users sending more offensive tweets. This could damage companies’ brands if their ads appear alongside them.
