• The social media platform’s verification, symbolized by a blue tick next to the name of user’s handle, was launched in 2009, three years after introduction of the site.
• It was first introduced after baseball legend Tony La Russa filed a lawsuit against Twitter in 2009 over an impersonator.
Image: Courtsey
The New York Times, Sunday, lost its gold verified checkmark tick on its Twitter account which has more than 55 million followers.
However, many verified individual and organisation accounts still have their blue and golden checkmarks except the New York Times.
CNN reporter, Oliver Darcy, indicated that a spokesperson from New York Times said that they are not planning to pay for the Twitter verification tick.
“We aren’t planning to pay the monthly fee for verification of our institutional Twitter accounts," the spokesperson said.
"We also will not reimburse reporters for the verification of personal accounts except in rare instances where the verified status would be essential for reporting purposes.”
Last year, the platform announced that users will start paying monthly fees to have their badge (blue checkmark).
“On April 1, we will begin winding down our legacy verified programme and removing legacy verified check marks,” the company tweeted.
In order to retain the verification badges, organisations will have to pay a monthly fee of $1000 to receive a gold verification tick while individual accounts will pay $8 a month for a blue verification tick.
CNN reporter Larry Madowo also indicated that he has no plans to pay for Twitter Blue and neither does CNN.
“Twitter says my blue checkmark will soon disappear - after 12 years of being verified. Anyone will be able to create an account in my name and get it verified for $8. What could possibly go wrong?” Madowo said.
“Even if I pay $8 to remain verified, anybody else can also add my name to their account and pay Twitter to verify it.
“So this doesn’t solve the problem of impersonation, it makes it worse. If this loophole is exploited by malicious people, it could have dangerous consequences.”
The social media platform’s verification, symbolised by a blue tick next to the name of the user’s handle, was launched in 2009, three years after the introduction of the site.
It was first introduced after baseball legend Tony La Russa filed a lawsuit against Twitter in 2009 over an impersonator.
The idea of verification was that it could prove the identity of a user.