Twitter has again restarted its account verification process, the company said on Monday evening by way of a post to its Twitter Verified account, where it publishes updates about the system’s status. Since launching the revamped verification program this spring, Twitter had hit a few snags which have forced it to shut down verifications more than once. The most recent of these pauses was announced on August 13, when the company said it need to make improvements to both the application and review process.
Twitter has struggled with account verifications for years. Everyone wanted the coveted blue badge that was previously doled out to public figures and other accounts of high public interest who have confirmed they are who they say they are — like a government official, journalist, celeb, brand or business, or another notable name.
But while the original system was meant to communicate only account authenticity, many viewed Twitter verification badgeholders as having some sort of elevated status. This issue came to a head when it was discovered in 2017 Twitter had verified the account belonging to Jason Keller, the person who organized the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Shortly thereafter, Twitter officially paused verifications, but continued to quietly verify certain individuals including candidates running for public office, elected public officials, journalists, and others.
Image Credits: Twitter
Finally, the company rebooted the system in May 2021, saying it had been rebuilt and would now have a dedicated team. It also issued new rules that more explicitly spelled out who could request verification and who could not. But demand for verification was so great that Twitter had to temporarily pause verification only 8 days after it launched so the team could catch up with the number of requests.
After it restarted, Twitter again put the system on pause in August, explaining it needed more time to get things right. It’s not clear how well verifications were going at this point, as social media consultant Matt Navarra pointed out that Twitter had accidentally verified a fake account for Rockstar Games. And earlier this summer, Twitter had admitted that it had permanently suspended some fake accounts that it had mistakenly verified, as well.
Now, Twitter says users who are looking to be verified should keep checking their account settings screen for access to the in-app application. It didn’t detail what, specifically had changed — but hopefully the system will now remain open for good.
