Twitter has made an announcement on plans to relaunch its verification system in 2021, the micro-blogging site owners have already begun the process of gathering public feedback on the new policy.
Twitter will initially verify six types of accounts, including those belonging to government officials; companies, brands, and non-profit organizations; news; entertainment; sports; and activists, organizers, and other influential individuals.
We will recall that this follows the earlier verification exercise carried out on the Twitter handle of the Nigerian Communications Commission a day to this announcement.
Now, with the 2020 U.S. presidential election has been concluded with a transition underway, sources from the social media platform confirms that work on its new verification system will finally resume.
To this effect, Twitter has shared a draft of its new verification policy in order to gain public feedback.
The policy details more specifically which accounts can be verified while introducing additional guidelines that could limit some accounts from receiving the blue badge.
For example, the account has to be “notable and active,” and the badge will not be given to incomplete profiles.
Twitter will also remove verification badges from otherwise qualified individuals if their accounts are found to be in repeated violation of Twitter terms.
The social media platform admitted to having verified accounts over the years which should not be, going by these guidelines.
To put this in proper perspective, Twitter will begin automatic removal of badges from inactive or incomplete accounts in order to help streamline operations going forward.
The new policy lays out specifics about how it will determine whether an account in a supported category will qualify.
For instance, news agencies will have to stick to professional standards for reportage, and freelance journalists will be expected to provide at least three bylines in qualifying organizations published in the last six months.
Twitter users will be able to offer feedback on the new verification policy starting From November 24, 2020. This exercise will continue through December 8, 2020.
The policy is available in English, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese. Users of the micro-blogging site can either respond to the survey or tweet their feedback publicly, using the hashtag #VerificationFeedback.
After December 8, 2020, Twitter will be training its team on the new policy as they conclude plans to introduce the final version by December 17, 2020.
The verification system will include a new public application process which will begin in early 2021.
Featured Image: pcmag
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