Verified profiles are back on Twitter: the novelty is being rolled out for everyone, but only some people can apply and get the blue tick.
After more than three years of suspension Twitter reopens to everyone the possibility to ask for account verification, which brings the famous blue tick under the username. The return of verified profiles had been announced in late 2020, but only now Twitter has reopened the procedure.
This is a global but gradual rollout, so not everyone is already able to ask for the blue checkmark but everyone will be within a few weeks. The suspension of account verification had been caused by a wave of controversy, due to an unclear and ineffective policy of selection of would-be verified users. Per questo Twitter ha deciso di sospendere tutto, per poi pubblicare a novembre scorso una prima bozza del nuovo regolamento sui profili verificati. Dopo circa sei mesi durante i quali ha raccolto i feedback dai suoi utenti adesso Twitter è pronta a riaprire alle verifiche, ma con le nuove regole.
Chi può ottenere il profilo Twitter verificato
Per ottenere il profilo verificato su Twitter bisogna innanzitutto avere un account visibile a tutti e attivo: niente profili dormienti, che vengono riattivati solo in circostanze poco chiare. Poi è necessario rientrare in una di queste categorie:
- Governi
- Aziende e organizzazioni
- Giornalisti e giornali
- Sportivi e personaggi dello sport
- Attori e personaggi dello spettacolo
- Attivisti e Influencer
In base alla categoria scelta dall’utente Twitter richiederà una serie di dati utili a confermare l’autenticità dell’account. For example, if the user claims to be a member of an NGO, Twitter will ask for an identification card and an official email of the NGO itself.
Once the data is received from the user, Twitter will take a few days to verify it and, if everything is correct, within a few days the profile will be verified and the famous blue tick will be shown under the username.
The problem of hacked profiles
Also this choice of Twitter, however, has caused some controversy especially from the community of security experts who complain that, instead of locking the verified profiles, Twitter is back to offer them to everyone.
The problem is the one, now known, of verified but hacked Twitter profiles. Last summer, for example, a hacker as young as 17 managed to hack the profiles of Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg and use them to circulate a maxi bitcoin scam that went down in history.