Not a single day goes by when we don’t come across people bashing each other and demeaning one another on Twitter. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), the microblogging site, which was meant to serve as a platform where people freely share views, has currently become the hub of trolls and bots. These trolls are generally found to breach the unspecified rules of virtual conduct by using crass language to enforce their opinions, attacking their dissenters and in some cases giving off grave threats as well. So in order to get a hold of things, Twitter has announced to remove verification badges from those users who resort to trolling.
Recently, Twitter revealed that the micro-blogging platform was reworking its entire verification system. In an announcement, the official @TwitterSupport account tweeted:
2 / Verification has long been perceived as an endorsement. We gave verified accounts visual prominence on the service which deepened this perception. We should have addressed this earlier but did not prioritize the work as we should have.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017
3 / This perception became worse when we opened up verification for public submissions and verified people who we in no way endorse.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017
Twitter also said that it has already changed its official guidelines on what verification means.
4 / We’re working on a new authentication and verification program. In the meantime, we are not accepting any public submissions for verification and have introduced new guidelines for the program. https://t.co/j6P0HGXIVq
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017
5 / We are conducting an initial review of verified accounts and will remove verification from accounts whose behavior does not fall within these new guidelines. We will continue to review and take action as we work towards a new program we are proud of.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017
The move comes after Twitter was criticised for verifying the account belonging to the organiser of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The ‘Unite the Right’ rally in August saw a confrontation between the protesters and counter-protesters that turned violent and left one dead. Jason Kessler, the organiser of the supremacist rally, was given the preferred status as indicated by the blue badge on Twitter.
Earlier this week, Twitter suspended its account verification exercise – a process that gives public figures on the micro-blogging platform a blue check-mark next to their account names.
In 2016, Twitter created an online application process for its account holders to receive ‘verified’ status, which allowed people to identify individuals and organisations on Twitter as authentic.
