Elon Musk continues to cause carnage in the sports world thanks to blue checkmarks now readily available to any user on Twitter.
The new wave of authentication, available for just $8, claimed more victims just one day after spurious rumors of LeBron James asking for a trade, among other posts, caught many gullible users off-guard.
An account from @jt23556 which describes itself as a ‘PARODY account for @wojespn *NOT IMPERSONATING* Following all Terms Of Service’, shocked many into believing Kyrie Irving had been cut by the Brooklyn Nets.
The account which is labeled as ‘Adrian Wojnarowski’, alongside a blue checkmark — and until recently had a photo of the NBA insider — tweeted out ‘The Brooklyn Nets have released Kyrie Irving, sources tell ESPN.’
The account purporting to be that of NBA journalist Adrian Wojnarowski fooled many Thursday
Kyrie Irving is currently, indefinitely suspended by the Brooklyn Nets & has not been released
It fooled many, including respected NFL broadcaster Rich Eisen, who in a since-deleted retweet said ‘WOW’, believing it to be real amid Irving’s current indefinite suspension from Brooklyn.
Eisen played the moment off in good faith in the aftermath, tweeting ‘The new Twitter sucks. Should know better to tweet leaving the @HofbraeuhausMUC in Munich.’
One user was ecstatic to see Eisen fall for the fake tweet, writing on the platform; ‘Thank you, @elonmusk for the glorious work you’ve done here.’
NFL broadcaster Rich Eisen reaction a tweet from an account pretending to be the NBA insider
Eisen then followed it up as a means of explaining why he fell for the parody account’s tweet
Others offered their opinions thereafter, with one man sarcastically tweeting; ‘people are saying this is fake, but would someone who has eight whole dollars to spend really spend it to make a fake account???’
Meanwhile, there was a portion of users who were less than pleased with the issue of the parody account spreading fake news.
At the time of writing the fake Irving trade tweet had amassed 26,600 likes, 9,600 retweets and 1,900 comments.
Twitter users reacted to Eisen and others falling for the fake report on the verified account
It comes just a day after the sports world spiraled into chaos with other verified accounts proliferating misinformation relating to various athletes and organizations.
Until recently, a blue check was Twitter’s traditional way of showing that an account user’s identity has been verified. Los Angeles Lakers fans thought they were losing franchise cornerstone LeBron James.
‘Thank you #LakersNation for all the support through the year,’ read a tweet from an account with the handle, @KingJamez. ‘Onto bigger and better things! #ThekidfromAKRON #ImComingHome.’
A tweet, seemingly from LeBron James, turned out to be completely bogus despite Twitter’s renewed efforts to improve its verification system
James was instead being impersonated by a Twitter prankster. The King’s account uses a slightly different handle: @KingJames.
Twitter has already banned the @KingJamez handle following Musk’s directive to suspend any user pretending to be someone else without clearly identifying as a parody account.
The confusion was understanding, considering that the bogus James account was adorned with a blue check.
Similarly, another user parodying ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter was suspended despite being clearly labeled: @AdamSchefterNOT.
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Another user parodying ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter was suspended despite being clearly labeled: @AdamSchefterNOT
‘Josh McDaniels is out as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, sources tell ESPN,’ read a tweet from the @AdamSchefterNOT account.
The checkmarks are now available for anyone willing to pay a $7.99-a-month subscription, which will also include some bonus features, such as fewer ads and the ability to have tweets given greater visibility than those coming from non-subscribers.
Experts have expressed concern that making the checkmark available to anyone for a fee could lead to impersonations and the spreading of misinformation and scams.
Which it has undoubtedly done, as evidenced over the past few days.
