Twitter’s new wave of Blue checks is sowing chaos

Twitter Blue accounts were launched on Tuesday. Twitter Blue is the platform’s new subscription service, which costs $7.99 a month and grants users fewer advertisements and the distinctive blue check mark on their account. That check mark used to be a sign that the account’s owner was who they said they were; now, it’s a purchasable status symbol.

This feature caused chaos and misinformation immediately, surprising no one. Twitter Blue users began to post fake news to make their points. One early example was a post from “RockstarGamse” advertising an upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6. showcase. It was promptly deleted. However, it was followed up by several accounts that pulled similar pranks.

Twitter has made some efforts to combat verified accounts sharing fake news, including suspending the fake Nintendo account, but it’s not really clear how the company will actually prevent misinformation.

On Wednesday morning, a second “official” marker was added to certain accounts, including major publications, business accounts, and notable figures. But the choices for who received the “official” mark appeared incoherent from the outside. It was removed quickly, and without any warnings, shortly after launch. Elon Musk tweeted that the feature had been killed. On Wednesday afternoon, Twitter Support tweeted that it was “aggressively going after impersonation and deception.”

Twitter users have the option to click on the blue checkmark, which indicates whether they were granted or bought as part of a Twitter Blue Subscription. However, it’s clear that these limited attempts aren’t stopping ambitious shitposters from creating fake corporate missives (and causing headaches for everyone in the process).

It is important to exercise caution while browsing Twitter. It’s like every day is April Fools now, so that great new announcement or shocking image might just be from a random person with eight dollars to spare. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is — and chances are, the official Nintendo account won’t be posting Mario flipping his fans off any time soon.