Musk blows up the latest “official” Twitter verification badge system in just a few hours

As the sun rose on Twitter this morning, many users discovered the new “official” verification badges on their accounts that had just been announced yesterday. (Kotaku especially not; (What did we do to piss you off, Elon?) But before anyone could even enjoy their first lunch as a double elite, the badges disappeared. Twitter’s new approach to authentication only lasted a few hours before Elon Musk killed it.

The “official” confirmation sticker was was announced yesterday 8.11 Esther Crawford, director of product management at Twitter, as a solution to the problem caused by the changes made to the Twitter Blue subscription service. With the new Twitter Blue giving out blue checks to anyone who pays $8 a month, Twitter needed a way to identify public figures, government officials and businesses.

Enter “Official” confirmation. Today’s new label — a gray version of the traditional blue checkmark with the word “Official” — was intended to distinguish official accounts of “verified” users from Twitter Blue subscribers. “Not all previously verified accounts receive the ‘Official’ badge, and the badge is not available for purchase. Accounts that do receive it include government accounts, commercial corporations, business partners, major media outlets, publishers, and some public figures,” Crawford wrote.

Read more: Elon Musk seems to be making Twitter the worst prize ever

This morning, however, it quickly became clear that Twitter’s method of anointing accounts “official” was somewhat haphazard, or perhaps even reflected Musk’s personal vendettas. Screenshots show that Kanye West, the man responsible for a litany of anti-Semitic diatribes, was officially confirmed, as was magical transphobe JK Rowling. However, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton did not receive a new confirmation. Neither does the famous horror writer Stephen King, who your famous tweet “fuck it” Last week there was a rumor that it would cost $20 to keep a blue check. Yet the late, great Anthony Bourdain, who has been dead for over four years, received an incomprehensible label.

As pointed out ForbesPaul Tassi, Fate 2 There was no official confirmation from developer Bungie, but Fate 2 the game was Actress and gamer Felicia Day, streamer Hasan Piker, and Karnage clan member Drift0r were all able to connect, while many gaming journalists (myself included) were not. Selling points like GameSpot, Polygon, IGNand Gamesradar they had been granted official authenticated status but Kotakuas I mentioned was dismayed.

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Soon after, video producer Marques Brownlee said his official verification sticker was missing, Musk responded, saying “I just killed it” and “The blue check is a great equalizer.” Poor Esther Crawford had to step in and clarifypromised that Twitter was actually only focused on “the initial government and commercial units,” and that Musk actually meant “we’re not focused on giving individuals an ‘official’ label right now.”

Currently, the “Official” badge appears to have been completely wiped from Twitter. It’s missing from the profiles of government officials like President Joe Biden, newly elected Senator John Fetterman, and even Twitter.

Kotakuhas contacted Twitter for comment.

RIP Official Twitter Confirmation (The Gray Edition), you were gone too soon.