March 30, 2023
According to CEO Elon Musk, Twitter will implement a new policy on April 15th that would prohibit unverified accounts from appearing in its algorithmic feed “For You.” Only posts from paid-for Twitter Blue accounts will appear in the suggested tweets stream.
In a post, Musk said that the decision to stop suggesting tweets from accounts that do not have a blue verified badge was “the only feasible solution to handle powerful AI bot swarms taking control.” For the same reason, Musk claims that authentication will be required to vote in polls on the platform.
Musk previously stated that paid verification significantly boosts the cost of using bots and facilitates their detection. Twitter relaunched its Twitter Blue membership option in December, following the first introduction of Twitter Blue, which saw accounts with blue checkmarks used to mimic corporations, celebrities, and other high-profile persons. Blue checkmarks are now granted solely to Twitter Blue members who authenticate their phone numbers and have their accounts evaluated.
“Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations. The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for same reason,” Musk said.
Twitter earlier stated that it will phase down its “legacy” verified program and remove “legacy verified” blue badges on April 1st. Nevertheless, some users are challenging Musk’s justification for removing unverified accounts from the “For You” page, given that Twitter does not demand any formal identity during the sign-up process.
The sources for this piece include an article in MacRumors.
