Twitter has temporarily stopped the process of user verification after facing accusations of politicizing the process.
In a statement on Thursday, Twitter claimed that, “Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance.”
Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it. We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 9, 2017
“We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it,” they declared, before adding, “We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon.”
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also made a statement, proclaiming, “We should’ve communicated faster on this (yesterday).”
“Our agents have been following our verification policy correctly, but we realized some time ago the system is broken and needs to be reconsidered,” he expressed. “And we failed by not doing anything about it. Working now to fix faster.”
We should’ve communicated faster on this (yesterday): our agents have been following our verification policy correctly, but we realized some time ago the system is broken and needs to be reconsidered. And we failed by not doing anything about it. Working now to fix faster. https://t.co/wVbfYJntHj
— jack (@jack) November 9, 2017
Users expressed outrage this week after Twitter verified Charlottesville alt-right rally organizer Jason Kessler.
In response, Twitter pointed out that user verification serves the sole purpose of verifying a public figure’s identity. However, others quickly accused the company of hypocrisy, citing the removal of verification of conservatives.
This mistake from day one has been to politicize the verification process I️ the first place with people like Milo and Assange https://t.co/gEwsk7de5E
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) November 9, 2017
You should start by being honest. Verification has never been about authenticating identity, has always been about choosing winners & losers
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) November 9, 2017
WikiLeaks Founder and Editor Julian Assange has repeatedly been denied Twitter verification too, despite being a major political figure with over 550,000 followers.
@jack This is absurd. pic.twitter.com/7zZzLJkoK0
— Assange Defence (@AssangeDefence) March 14, 2017
It is currently unknown as to when the Twitter user verification process will resume and what changes will be made to the process the company calls “broken”.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington and Gab @Nash, or like his page at Facebook.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.