Editor's note: This article has been updated in light of Twitter pausing its $8 verification process.
Twitter paused its new $8 dollar verification process on Friday amid yet another day of chaos and uncertainty on Twitter since Elon Musk's takeover of the microblogging website in October. As Twitter rolled out its new $8 dollar verification process, it backfired with multiple fake and parody Twitter accounts getting verified and tweeting out fake information.
This was in complete contrast to what Musk had promised the $8 verification process would do — curb fake information and make Twitter a source of more accurate information.
The confusion with the fake verified handles came at a time when Musk told his employees that there was a possibility of Twitter going bankrupt. Reuters reported that Musk said in a company-wide email that Twitter may not survive the "upcoming economic downturn" if the Twitter subscription plan fails. The confusion generated by fake Twitter handles being able to get verifications has also raised questions about whether this $8 subscription model will actually work.
The incidents came close on the heels of Musk announcing to the world that Twitter will "do lots of dumb things in coming months".
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What exactly happened?
Several fake and parody accounts such as '@jesus', '@teslareal' and '@EliLiIlyandCo', among others, managed to get verified. Parody tweets from these accounts and even fake information left people on Twitter confused.
Eli Lilly and Company, an American pharmaceutical company that produces insulin, was forced to issue an apology after the fake verified account '@EliLiIlyandCo' tweeted announcing free insulin for everyone. The actual Twitter handle of the company, '@LillyPad' tweeted saying, "We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account. Our official Twitter account is @LillyPad"
The fake Twitter handle said, "We are excited to announce insulin is free now." While the archive of the now-locked Twitter handle does not render the blue tick, several Twitter users took screenshots to show that the fake handle was verified. Drew Harwell, the tech reporter for The Washington Post said that the real pharmaceutical had to get in touch with Twitter as the tweet spreading fake information had been on Twitter for over six hours and had been shared widely.
The fake information on insulin hit hard as the drug is expensive in the United States and has been a contentious issue for a while now. The lack of affordable insulin has affected many in the country.
Another account '@teslareal', which had been verified, tweeted several bizarre things before being locked.
BOOM was able to screenshot two tweets before they disappeared as a result of the account being locked:
As the time stamps on the screenshots show, these tweets too were up for several hours before Twitter took action against them.
The verified account for '@jesus' continues to be functioning, despite it not mentioning parody in its bio. It even quote tweeted a CNN video about the chaos and confusion that was triggered by the new Twitter verification process.
Why is this a problem?
At a time when misinformation is already a severe issue, verified Twitter handles sharing misinformation can exacerbate the problem. Such Twitter handles, once verified, can be misused as well.
Musk, since his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, has harped on making it a source of the most accurate information and free speech. "Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That's our mission," Musk had said on November 7.
Musk has championed the $8 verification process saying it was a way of democratising journalism and the voice of the people. As part of his new plans, Musk had said, "Going forward, accounts engaged in parody must include "parody" in their name, not just in bio." He added that tricking people was not ok.
Friday's incidents with fake account verifications and fake tweets staying up on the microblogging site for several hours got no direct response from Musk. He took to Twitter and said, "Quite the day!". In another tweet, he said, "Some epically funny tweets."
Musk also claimed that Twitter hit an all-time high of active Twitter users today.
Musk or Twitter did not clarify whether they would close loopholes in the verification process that led to Friday's chaos.