Not even a week after its launch, Twitter Blue — the social media platform’s new subscription-based service where users can pay $7.99 per month for a verification badge — was paused on Friday after users created fake accounts impersonating brands and people, according to The Associated Press.
The news: After the launch of Twitter Blue, myriad fake accounts with Twitter’s blue verification badge began popping up throughout the site, impersonating the likes of Tesla, Nestle, LeBron James, President Joe Biden, Nintendo and others, Fortune reported.
- In one instance, a now-suspended parody account of the drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co., donning the blue check mark, tweeted: “We are excited to announce insulin is free now.”
- The official Eli Lilly and Co. Twitter account responded, “We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account. Our official Twitter account is @LillyPad.”
The bigger picture: Before the rollout of Twitter Blue, the site's blue verification check mark was reserved for verified accounts of brands, politicians, celebrities, journalists and other prominent public figures, according to AP.
- With Twitter Blue, anyone willing to pay $7.99 per month could garner the verification badge, before Twitter paused the service on Friday.
Details: When the service began this week, Elon Musk, the company’s new owner, stated that any account impersonating another person or brand without explicitly specifying parody would be permanently deleted, according to Reuters.
- Due to this move, many of these parody accounts and tweets have been deleted and even permanently suspended from the platform.