Twitter Blue launch is ‘suspended’ as chaos continues – but Musk says service is ‘proceeding well’

Twitter users were left baffled on Friday as the Elon Musk-owned social media platform suspended the $8-a-month subscription service Twitter Blue – with no warning – due to issues with impersonation. 

Twitter Blue had been available to some users in recent days but seemingly vanished overnight for some Apple iPhone users in the United States and Britain.

Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer shared details from an internal announcement on the company’s Slack channel that says the company is actively trying to stop people from signing up ‘to help address impersonation issues’

Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer shared details from an internal announcement on the company’s Slack channel

Schiffer shared more details from an internal announcement on Twitter’s Slack channel

Musk said the service ‘needs some tweaks, but overall proceeding well’ in response to a tweet from a user called Bitcoin Archive who said the service seems to be a ‘wild success’

According to the internal note Schiffer shared on Friday morning: ‘An update on what we did tonight: hid the entry point to Twitter Blue, added the “official” label for ONLY advertisers. Note: here is at least one way for users to sign up for Blue. Legacy Blue users can go to subscriptions and upgrade.’

The note goes on to say that existing Blue subscribers will still have access to their Blue features – however the firm has disabled Blue from being purchased on Apple iOS. 

Meanwhile, Musk said the service ‘needs some tweaks, but overall proceeding well’ in response to a tweet from a user called Bitcoin Archive who said the service seems to be a ‘wild success’ based on the number of verified accounts in their mentions. 

However, the verification system has also been exploited by fake accounts impersonating a range of different brands and people since Musk took over – and the platform has been criticized by misinformation experts who warn that it will complicate matters in the period after the midterm elections when the public is seeking factual information. 

The Federal Trade Commission has warned that it’s following recent developments ‘with concern’ and one of Twitter’s lawyers wrote on an internal messaging board that the social network could face billions in fines over violations of its consent decree with the US agency.  

Twitter is again adding gray ‘official’ labels to some prominent accounts. The company, in its second chaotic week after Musk took over, had rolled out the labels earlier this week, only to kill them a few hours later.

Twitter is again adding gray ‘official’ labels to some prominent accounts. Pictured: The ‘official’ check mark is seen on Twitter’s own account. The company, in its second chaotic week after Musk took over, had rolled out the labels earlier this week, only to kill them a few hours later

Despite the chaos, Musk wrote on Twitter that the number of active users on his platform were at an ‘all time high’. ‘Quite the day!’ he wrote, have said before: ‘Usage of Twitter continues to rise. One thing is for sure: it isn’t boring!’

‘Twitter seems to have unlaunched the new $7.99 Twitter Blue subscription,’ tech blogger Jane Manchun Wong wrote on Friday morning. ‘Checked with Twitter’s API and the in-app purchase for Twitter Blue Verified is no longer listed for production.’

Twitter appeared to be switching features on and off with no explanation. Musk tweeted on Wednesday: ‘Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works and change what doesn’t’

But on Thursday night they were back again, at least for some accounts – including Twitter’s own, as well as big companies like Amazon, Nike and Coca-Cola.

Despite the chaos, Musk wrote on Twitter that the number of active users on his platform were at an ‘all time high’. ‘Quite the day!’ he wrote, have said before: ‘Usage of Twitter continues to rise. One thing is for sure: it isn’t boring!’

Twitter users reported Friday that they were no longer able to sign up for Twitter Blue, having previously had the option to do so. Pictured: A screenshot from Friday morning showing an error message

In another Tweet, Musk had posted: ‘Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.’

‘Twitter just yanked Twitter Blue from a bunch of accounts lmao,’ Ken Klippenstein, a reporter at The Intercept, also wrote.

Musk has touted Twitter Blue as a way to bring in revenue for the company he purchased last month for $44 billion. One feature would see any user subscribing to Twitter blue given the platform’s iconic ‘blue tick’ next to their name – without the need of any kind of official verification.

On Thursday, several users who previously did not have the blue tick against their usernames shared that they had signed up for Twitter Blue and now had the tick.

But hours later, some of the same users reported that their blue checkmark had vanished, while users in the US and in Britain reported the option to purchase Twitter Blue had also disappeared from their apps.

‘Twitter seems to have unlaunched the new $7.99 Twitter Blue subscription,’ tech blogger Jane Manchun Wong wrote on Friday morning. ‘Checked with Twitter’s API and the in-app purchase for Twitter Blue Verified is no longer listed for production.’

Until Musk’s takeover, the blue check mark was used to verify accounts of public figures and organizations – including politicians and political groups, celebrities, other public figures such as journalists, and the accounts of brands.

The Tesla CEO has controversially said he wants the blue tick to be available to all paying customers. He said opening the verification process up to more people will help democratize Twitter and cut down on the spam and bot accounts on the site.

But critics have said this opens the door to confusion, impersonation and the further spread of misinformation.

This has already been evident on the platform, with several accounts newly adorned with blue ticks impersonating famous figures, such as former presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, and posting misleading messages.

Others have argued that public figures that make use of the Twitter create the content that gives it value, and that they should not be charged a fee to be verified. Others have said pointed out that previous attempts by companies to monetise something previously free have seldom been successful. 

As of Friday morning, Twitter’s own account, along with brands such as Coca-cola, Nike, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta (Facebook’s parent company) and Apple – to name a few – all had the ‘official’ check mark on their account pages (pictured)

Musk tweeted late on Thursday that all parody accounts must have ‘parody’ in their username as an attempt to crack down on the confusion. 

Meanwhile, as a replacement to the blue check mark to verify publicly significant accounts, it appears that Twitter was instead rolling out a gray ‘official’ marker.

As of Friday morning, Twitter’s own account, along with brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta (Facebook’s parent company) and Apple – to name a few – all had the ‘official’ check mark on their account pages.

Some media companies, such as The New York Times, The New Yorker and the Daily Mail Online also had the labels as of 9 p.m. Pacific time, while others, like The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times, did not.

However, by midnight pacific time, all three appeared to no longer have the ‘official’ label on their Twitter accounts.

Celebrities, some of whom have been impersonated this week since Musk began overhauling Twitter’s ‘blue check’ verification system, also did not appear to be getting the ‘official’ label.

The ‘official’ mark rollout was confirmed by Twitter’s director of product management, Esther Crawford, who said: ‘Not all previously verified accounts will get the ‘Official’ label and the label is not available for purchase.

Musk has touted Twitter Blue as a way to bring in revenue for the company he purchased last month for $44 billion

‘Accounts that will receive it include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures.

‘The new Twitter Blue does not include ID verification – it’s an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features.

‘We’ll continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.’

DailyMail.com has contacted Twitter for comment.

Twitter began offering its subscription service this week that for $8 a month gets anyone who wants – without actual verification – the blue check mark that previously was given to prominent accounts to prevent impersonation.

Now, there are two categories of ‘blue checks,’ and the check marks look identical.

One, which includes the accounts that were actually verified before Musk took helm, now note that ‘This account is verified because it’s notable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category.’ 

Musk on Thursday raised the possibility of the social media platform going bankrupt, capping a chaotic day that included a warning from a U.S. privacy regulator and the exit of the company’s trust and safety leader

The other notes that the account subscribes to Twitter Blue.

Earlier Thursday, Musk tweeted that ‘too many corrupt legacy Blue ‘verification’ checkmarks exist, so no choice but to remove legacy Blue in coming months.’

However, time could be running out for Musk to turn the platform’s fortunes around.

Musk on Thursday raised the possibility of the social media platform going bankrupt, capping a chaotic day that included a warning from a U.S. privacy regulator and the exit of the company’s trust and safety leader.

The billionaire on his first mass call with employees said that he could not rule out bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported, two weeks after buying it for $44 billion – a deal that credit experts say has left Twitter’s finances in a precarious position.

Earlier in the day, in his first company-wide email, Musk warned that Twitter would not be able to ‘survive the upcoming economic downturn’ if it fails to boost subscription revenue to offset falling advertising income, three people who have seen the message told Reuters.

Yoel Roth, who has overseen Twitter’s response to combat hate speech, misinformation and spam on the service, resigned on Thursday, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

In his Twitter profile on Thursday, Roth described himself as ‘Former Head of Trust & Safety’ at the company.

Roth did not respond to requests for comment. Bloomberg and tech site Platformer reported his exit first.

Earlier on Thursday, Twitter’s Chief Information Security Officer Lea Kissner tweeted that she had quit.

Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty also resigned, according to an internal message posted to Twitter’s Slack messaging system on Thursday by an attorney on its privacy team and seen by Reuters.

Robin Wheeler, the company’s top ad sales executive, told employees in a memo that she was staying at the company, a person who had seen the message said, diverging from earlier media reports that she too would be leaving.

‘I’m still here,’ Wheeler tweeted late on Thursday.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it was watching Twitter with ‘deep concern’ after the three privacy and compliance officers quit. These resignations potentially put Twitter at risk of violating regulatory orders.

Musk attorney Alex Spiro told some employees in an email late on Thursday that Twitter would remain in compliance.

‘We spoke to the FTC today about our continuing obligations and have a constructive ongoing dialogue,’ Spiro wrote. He stated that only Twitter, not individual employees, could be held liable against the orders.

‘I understand that there have been employees at Twitter who do not even work on the FTC matter commenting that they could (go) to jail if we were not in compliance – that is simply not how this works,’ he wrote.

In his first meeting with many employees at Twitter on Thursday afternoon, Musk warned that the company may lose billions of dollars next year, the Information reported.

Musk added in the email to workers that remote work would no longer be allowed and that they would be expected in the office for at least 40 hours per week.

Twitter, Musk and Spiro did not respond to requests for comment on a potential bankruptcy, the FTC warning, or the departures.

Musk ruthlessly moved to clean house after taking over on Oct. 27 and has said the company was losing more than $4 million a day, largely because advertisers started fleeing once he took over.

He has culled several senior positions, and laid off as many as 3,700 employees. 

Twitter has $13 billion in debt after the deal and faces interest payments totaling close to $1.2 billion in the next 12 months. The payments exceed Twitter’s most recently disclosed cash flow, which amounted to $1.1 billion as of the end of June.

In order to cover the $1.2 billion interest this year with subscriptions alone, Musk would need more than 12 million users to sign up for Twitter Blue for a whole year. There are currently around 400,000 users with free blue check marks.   

Musk told advertisers on Wednesday, speaking on Twitter’s Spaces feature, that he aimed to turn the platform into a force for truth and stop fake accounts.

His assurances may not be enough.

Chipotle Mexican Grill said on Thursday it had pulled back its paid and owned content on Twitter ‘while we gain a better understanding on the direction of the platform under its new leadership.’

It joined other brands including General Motors, Audi, General Mills and Pfizer that have paused advertising on Twitter since Musk took over, concerned that he will loosen content moderation rules.

Speaking to Reuters on Tuesday, CEO of Mondelez International, one of the largest food and beverage companies, shared his concerns of Musk’s takeover.

‘What we’ve seen recently, since the change on Twitter has been announced, is the amount of hate speech increase significantly,’ he said. 

‘We felt there is a risk our advertising would appear next to the wrong messages. As a consequence, we have decided to take a pause and a break until that risk is as low as possible.’