Twitter: New method for checking users – but why?

Twitter: New method for checking users – but why?

New York, June 10, 2020

Twitter is working on a new method for checking users. According to „The Verge“, this project originates from a tweet by Jane Manchun Wong, an independent reverse engineer. She discovered it in the Twitter app, in the „Personal Information“ section of the app’s settings, a „request verification“ field. Twitter is said to have confirmed this without any further information.

The company’s help page still says that the program for the verified account has been put on hold. New requests would not be accepted. This leaves completely open when Twitter will reopen verification for users.

Twitter used to add a blue check mark next to the names of accounts it had verified as authentic and which were „of public interest. Although Twitter originally stated that a verified credential did not imply formal confirmation by the company, it has now admitted that there was some confusion about the purpose of the credential and what it meant.

The verification process was suspended in 2017. The reason was the award of a blue cheque to a white racist. He had tweeted derogatory comments about Heather Heyer. Heyer was killed during the 2017 Charlottesville rally.

Twitter stated in 2018 that it did not have the bandwidth to continue work on the verification system, and instead shifted the focus to election integrity. It tried to verify candidates in primaries and elected officials, but with mixed results.

Earlier this year, Twitter began granting public health officials blue checks to authenticate their tweets via COVID-19.

So what’s next?