Twitter Introducing Government ID-Verification to Counter Fake Accounts
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter generated enormous interest in and demand for the service. However, not long after that, the platform abandoned its former identity. Elon recently opted to rebrand the company with the name “X” rather than keep the famous “Twitter bird.”
While Elon kept the app’s original feel, he added several new features that significantly increased the site’s popularity. As an example, the “Twitter Blue” premium verification service allowed users to access previously unavailable capabilities such as a greater post reach, higher quality images, and the ability to publish videos of a longer length.
Twitter Introducing ID-Verification
Twitter’s blue color scheme helped protect users’ privacy, but it was still easy to fake and many users used anonymous identities when verifying their profiles. This led to some false information being spread in people’s names on the platform, which was embarrassing for them. According to a tweet by user @nima_owji, Twitter has implemented user-requested ID-Verification into its app.
The user posted a picture of the Verification and explained users that X(Formerly Twitter) might be bringing ID Verification sooner than we think.
According to Nima Owji, Twitter was working on the same feature a few months ago but stopped working on it. However, it seems the feature has been renewed and will be arriving soon.
The Trend of Paid Verifications
While some maintain the opinion that verification should be a free community function, Meta has followed Twitter’s lead and made clout-chasing a paid option in an effort to diversify its revenue streams beyond advertising. Meta introduced their paid verification service for Facebook and Instagram in the United States, following launches in Australia and New Zealand.
Users can pay a recurring fee to obtain its “blue checkmark” validation. Creators and businesses using Meta may decide that the benefits of impersonation protection and direct access to assistance are sufficient to justify the extra effort required for verification.
Third-Party Dependency
A few months back, product intelligence firm Watchful.ai discovered the ID upload capability in Twitter’s code, but it is was unknown if it was undergoing external testing. TechCrunch wrote an article in which it communicated with watchful.ai and concluded that the functionality was being tested on the Android version of the Twitter app in the United States. The number of Twitter users who are really viewing the feature is still unknown.
Twitter users, according to screenshots provided to TechCrunch through Watchful.ai, will have to spend roughly three minutes completing the verification procedure, during which time their information and photos will be shared with a third party for the purpose of verifying their identity. This suggests that Twitter is relying on a third-party service rather than performing the verifications themselves.
If implemented publicly, government ID-based verification would represent a significant shift in Twitter’s ID verification system, which now prioritizes highlighting the accounts of Twitter Blue subscribers by giving them preferential placement in the Notifications timeline. As explained earlier, however, just because Twitter can now confirm that a user is a human with a legitimate phone number doesn’t mean they are who they say they are.
