Twitter verification under Elon Musk is getting even more complicated

Twitter' new official tag
(Image credit: Esther Crawford / Twitter)

Just days after blowing up its verification process by making it a paid feature in Twitter Blue, the platform has now unveiled a new extra verification badge that will be issued to "official" accounts such as governments, companies, major media outlets, and some public figures. 

The internet was quick to react as you might expect, with Twitter seemingly arriving back at the original verification solution that it broke with its Twitter Blue plans. 

Under Elon Musk, Twitter is going to let anyone buy a blue tick without ID verification as part of its Twitter Blue subscription service which also includes features such as reduced advertising. 

A verified mess

Many users and influencers have been quick to highlight how insane the new Twitter Blue offering is, as it completely undermines the point of verification, which is supposed to reward accounts that provide value to the platform or require verification, such as influential figures, so they can't be impersonated.

To combat this problem, Twitter has come up with an ingenious plan to prevent this, by adding yet another verification tick in the form of an "official" label. Twitter's Esther Crawford took to Twitter overnight stating to reveal twitter is "introducing the “Official" label to select accounts when we launch."

According to Crawford not all previously verified accounts will get the "Official" label, and it can't be bought like the Twitter Blue checkmark. It will be given to accounts including "government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures."

Replies in the thread were quick to note how Twitter has completely screwed Twitter Blue users by offering them a chance to buy a blue tick, and then introducing another verification method. 

Twitter under Elon Musk continues to be chaotic, however the Tesla and Space X mogul says that user growth is at an all-time high since he took over the platform.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9