Twitter Blue briefly launched in November, but it was pulled after users abused the new paid option by impersonating celebrities and brands. A user impersonating pharmaceutical giant Eli Lily, for example, tweeted “we are excited to announce insulin is free now.”
Eli Lilly’s stock price dropped sharply after the false message was posted, and so did other pharmaceutical companies like AbbVie, which was also impersonated on Twitter.
Musk said the service would launch again on Nov. 29, but it was further delayed until Monday.
The Tesla
and SpaceX CEO, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October, has said the new verification system will be “the great leveler” and give “power to the people.” He has been a vocal critic of Twitter’s previous system, which granted verification to notable users like politicians, executives, members of the press and organizations to signal their legitimacy. Other social networks, like Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, have similar verification systems.
Users who were verified under Twitter’s old policy are being marked as legacy verified accounts that “may not be notable” under the new Twitter Blue service. Musk said in a tweet Monday that all legacy blue checks will be removed in a few months.
“The way in which they were given out was corrupt and nonsensical,” he said.
