Twitter verification: Confusion as Elon Musk yanks blue checks from agencies

Twitter removed the blue checks from accounts that don't pay a monthly fee to keep them. Photo / AP

Twitter has long been a way for people to keep track of tornado watches, train delays, news alerts or the latest crime warnings from their local police department.

But when the Elon Musk-owned platform started stripping blue verification check marks this week from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee, it left public agencies and other organizations around the world scrambling to figure out a way to show they’re trustworthy and avoid impersonators.

High-profile users who lost their blue checks on Thursday included Beyonce, Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey and former US president Donald Trump. But checks were also removed from accounts for major transit systems from San Francisco to Paris, national parks like Yosemite, official weather trackers and some elected officials.

Twitter had roughly 400,000 verified users under the original blue-check system. In the past, the checks meant that Twitter had verified that users were who they said they were.

While Twitter is now offering gold checks for “verified organisations” and grey checks for government organizations and their affiliates, it was not always clear why some accounts had them on Friday and others did not.

Fake accounts claiming to represent Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the city’s Department of Transportation and the Illinois Department of Transportation all began sharing messages early on Friday falsely claiming that Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive — a major thoroughfare — would close to private traffic starting next month.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk carries his child as he leaves after speaking at the Possible marketing conference. Photo / AP

A critical eye could spot obvious hints of fraud. The account handles are slightly different from the authentic ones representing Lightfoot and the transportation agencies. The fakes also had far fewer followers.

But the fakes used the same photos, biographical text and homepage links as the real ones.

The genuine accounts for Lightfoot and the transportation agencies did not have a blue or grey check mark as of Friday. Lightfoot’s office said the city is aware of the fake accounts and is “working with Twitter to resolve this matter”. At least one was suspended on Friday.

A number of agencies said they were awaiting more clarity from Twitter, which has sharply curtailed its staff since Musk bought the San Francisco company for $44 billion ($66 billion) last year. The confusion has raised concerns that Twitter could lose its status as a platform for getting accurate, up-to-date information from authentic sources, including in emergencies.

As a tornado was about to strike central New Jersey earlier this month, a go-to account for information was run by the National Weather Service (NWS) branch in Mount Holly, New Jersey. It had a blue check at the time. It no longer has any checks, though the main NWS account and some other regional branches now sport a grey check marking them as official accounts.

Susan Buchanan, director of public affairs for the weather service, said the agency is in the process of applying to get the grey check mark for government agencies. She declined to answer why some regional NWS branches lost their marks and others have them.