Twitter has suspended its newly relaunched blue tick verification system after the social media platform was flooded by a wave of imposter accounts.
The premium “Twitter Blue“ service is available to anyone for £6.99 a month in the UK ($8 a month in the US) – having previously been used to authenticate the accounts of public figures, including celebrities and journalists, which had been vetted and confirmed as genuine.
But the revamped model has given credence to a host of fake accounts – with one parody purporting to be Jesus Christ getting verification.
The person behind the satirical account, who prefers to remain anonymous, started it 14 years ago in 2006.
“Even though I’ve had it that long, I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to get it verified,” he told Business Insider.
“I’ve applied for verification before and been rejected, but when Elon Musk changed the verification rules and you could subscribe to Twitter Blue and buy a verified check, I knew it was finally my time. It was immediate. I bought the Twitter Blue subscription, and when I finished confirming Apple Pay and reopened Twitter, I was verified.”
Another fake account claimed insulin was free, forcing US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co to offer an apology.