Twitter To Postpone Release Of Verification Check Mark

Twitter is delaying the release of verification checkmarks to subscribers in an effort to minimise any potential influence of Tuesday's midterm elections, according to reports.

The social media platform owned by Elon Musk was supposed to launch the updated version of its subscription service, Twitter Blue on Monday. An app update note states that the company began testing the new functionality on Saturday.

The reported decision to postpone the distribution of verification credentials comes only days before the November 8 voting deadline for the U.S. midterm elections.

According to The New York Times, the action was taken to lessen the potential consequences of verified users impersonating politicians or other public figures, such as Vice President Biden, or news organisations releasing erroneous election results that would dissuade others from casting ballots.

Jen Easterly, the director of CISA, the U.S. government organisation in charge of monitoring election security and safeguarding voting infrastructure stated last week that the organisation had found "no information credible or specific about efforts to disrupt or compromise," but she cautioned of the ongoing dangers posed by disinformation campaigns launched by foreign actors with the intention of undermining trust in the elections system.

Security experts warned that Twitter's new verification restrictions would be a "huge danger" before the midterm elections, including Chris Krebs, the former CISA director who was sacked by President Trump for disputing bogus accusations of election fraud.

Several verified users were mimicking Twitter's new owner Elon Musk as of the time of writing, despite the possibility of having their accounts suspended for impersonation.

The updated Twitter Blue, which will cost $7.99 a month in the US, has a number of new features, including giving subscribers the coveted blue checkmark and reducing the number of ads they see on the platform.

Musk hopes to make Twitter, which he recently purchased for $44 billion, a significant source of revenue by leveraging the subscription service. More than $1 billion in interest must be paid annually by Musk, who borrowed $13 billion from banks to finance the purchase.

This week, the corporation started making cost cuts by eliminating nearly 3,700 employees, or about half of its workforce.

Earlier this weekend, Musk asserted in a series of tweets that the company's updated Twitter Blue "can beat" the ad-revenue YouTube delivers to creators and that he was also trying to improve Twitter's search capability.

According to him, Twitter will soon let users attach lengthy paragraphs to tweets. In the upcoming months, Twitter intends to roll out the updated Twitter Blue to subscribers in a number of markets.