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Twitter is pushing the launch of its paid verification plan until after the midterm elections, The New York Times reported.
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“We’ve made the decision to move the launch of this release to Nov. 9, after the election,” an employee wrote in a Slack message viewed by NYT.
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The shift comes one day after the company rolled out the $7.99 subscription model.
Twitter is expected to delay the launch of its paid blue-check verification plan until after the midterm elections, The New York Times reported Sunday.
The change comes just one day after the company rolled out the divisive $7.99 verification model, adding it to an updated description of the platform in the iOS App Store. According to an internal post viewed by the Times, the subscription will now be delayed until after Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The reversal is on the heels of concerns, both internally at Twitter and among users, about the paid plan’s potential to spread misinformation and encourage impersonators to pose as politicians, celebrities, or notable figures.
According to The New York Times report, an employee asked in an internal Slack channel on Saturday why the company was “making such a risky change before elections, which has the potential of causing election interference.”
In response, a staffer working on the verification plan wrote, “We’ve made the decision to move the launch of this release to Nov. 9, after the election,” The Times reported.
Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider’s request to comment.
In its updated app description on Saturday, Twitter wrote that Twitter Blue with verification was available “starting today” in iOS in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
“Starting today, we’re adding great new features to Twitter Blue, and have more on the way soon,” the app description read. “Get Twitter Blue for $7.99/month if you sign up now. Blue checkmark: Power to the people: Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow.”
The description remained unchanged as of Sunday afternoon.
In a tweet Saturday, Musk responded to critics of the paid plan, and said his intention is to lower the number of verified accounts he believes were given “arbitrarily.”
“Far too many legacy ‘verified’ checkmarks were handed out, often arbitrarily, so in reality they are *not* verified,” Musk wrote. “You can buy as many as you want right now with a Google search. Piggybacking off payment system plus Apple/Android is a much better way to ensure verification.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
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