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Twitter is delaying the rollout of account reviews for its paid Twitter Blue subscription plan until after the midterm elections, a source with knowledge of the decision confirmed to CNN.
The decision to shelve the new feature comes a day after the platform launched an updated version of its iOS app that promises users who pay a monthly subscription fee will get a blue tick on their profiles, a feature CEO Elon Musk proposed to fight spam on the platform.
The app’s latest update, detailed on Apple’s App Store, says users must now pay $7.99 per month for the company’s Twitter Blue verification feature, “just like the celebrities, businesses, and politicians you already know.” follow”. The tick has long been used to certify authenticity by government officials, celebrities, and journalists.
CNN’s testing of the service on Saturday afternoon suggested the rollout was ongoing ahead of Sunday’s decision. A Twitter account freshly created by CNN that opted in for the paid feature didn’t show a tick on its public profile. Twitter also seemed to still be charging $4.99, an outdated price.
The decision to delay rollout comes as the entire decision to charge users for verification has met with widespread public backlash. Defiantly, some celebrities on the platform posed as Musk over the weekend, exposing a potential flaw in the “Blue Check” system.
Comedian Sarah Silverman used her verified account to troll Musk, copying his profile picture, cover photo, and name. The only thing that distinguished a tweet from Silverman’s account was that @SarahKSilverman handle.
“I’m a free speech absolutist and eat doody for breakfast every day,” Silverman said tweeted Saturday. Her account has also retweeted posts supporting Democratic candidates.
Silverman’s account was marked as “temporarily restricted” on Sunday, with a warning that “there has been some unusual activity from this account” that visitors saw before they clicked through to the profile. The comedian then changed her account back to the usual form, complete with her own name and picture.
TV actress Valerie Bertinelli also changed her Account designation to the CEOs of Twitter, tweet Friday that “[t]The blue tick simply means your identity has been verified. Scammers would have a harder time impersonating you. That no longer applies. Good luck out there!” She then replied to a follower who asked why the tick no longer applies. Write“[y]You can buy a blue tick for $7.99 a month without verifying who you are.”
After Bertinelli changed her profile name to Musk, she tweeted and retweeted support for several Democratic candidates and hashtags, including “VoteBlueForDemocracy” and “#VoteBlueIn2022.”
The actress changed her account name back to Valerie Bertinelli Sunday. tweet“[o]Key-Dokey, I had my fun and I think I made my point.
The trolling activity follows Musk’s purchase of the company and a pledge to restore the accounts of users previously banned from the platform, most notably former President Donald Trump. Musk has also said that he will limit the company’s content restrictions and require the paid subscription for account verification.
For the past few months, Musk has shared conspiracy theories about the attack on Paul Pelosi, called Democrats the party of “Division & Hate” compared The former CEO of Twitter to Joseph Stalin and warned that “the virus of the bright mind will destroy civilization”.
CNN’s Brian Fung and Donie O’Sullivan contributed to this report.