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Twitter’s new system for verifying users has faced intense criticism for weeks. The fear among many is that users could buy blue checkmark “verification” then impersonate famous people, athletes and journalists. Elon Musk and Twitter’s leadership have dismissed such claims. Well, it’s already happening.
On Wednesday a “verified” account impersonating LeBron James demanded a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers:
Well, that didn’t take long at all lol
(This is not Lebron James) pic.twitter.com/wzOXuOy3pr
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 9, 2022
Given that the account was “verified” and had a blue checkmark, many were duped by the tweet.
Another account impersonated Adam Schefter and announced the Las Vegas Raiders had fired Josh McDaniels:
AND THIS IS WHY THIS IS A RIDICULOUS AND AWFUL IDEA pic.twitter.com/ox0os1IFM1
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) November 9, 2022
Again, people were fooled. And those weren’t the only two:
Everyone talks about politics Twitter endlessly, but sports Twitter is actually the thing keeping this site going. This new blue check thing is gonna tank it so hard, can’t wait for NBA trade deadline week. pic.twitter.com/7CO2pcdoBM
— Aric Toler (@AricToler) November 9, 2022
Yes, there is a way to determine if the account is “verified” because it is paying for Twitter Blue, or because it belongs to a notable person, but the system is needlessly complex and confusing. And most users just scroll the site looking for news and will get fooled.
You can bet this will continue to happen until Twitter realizes how awful this new system is.
