Twitter To Delay Paid Verification System Until After Midterm Elections

Twitter plans to delay the rollout of its new subscription-based verification system until after Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to a New York Times report on Sunday.

Many Twitter employees and users expressed concerns regarding the new verification system’s ability for users to pay for perceived credibility, and how this credibility could affect the upcoming elections.

An investigation from the New York Times showed one Twitter employee expressing these concerns in a company Slack channel. The employee asked why the social media giant was “making such a risky change before elections, which has the potential of causing election interference.”

The delay comes on the heels of Twitter’s announcement of the program that will allow users to obtain a blue verification check mark on their profile for a monthly $7.99 fee. On Saturday, the notes that accompanied Twitter’s latest app update included a reference to Twitter Blue, the site’s existing subscription service.

In Twitter’s announcement, the company proclaimed that power now belonged to the people, adding “Your account will get a blue check mark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow.”

Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the company has gone through a historic upheaval, laying off over half of its employees, including CEO Parag Agrawal and several members of its communications team.

In a tweet, Musk acknowledged the difficulty of laying off such a large portion of Twitter’s workforce, claiming it necessary for the future of the site’s survival.

Twitter has faced criticism for misinformation through the use of bots, fake accounts that conceal themselves in obscurity to spread falsehoods.

The use of these bots has been shown to influence political elections, and with Twitter planning to allow users to pay for verification, the question remains as to how the site will rein in this problem.