Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, reiterated his intention to get rid of the "legacy" verification system in a "few months" on Friday, calling it "deeply corrupted."
“Twitter’s legacy Blue Verified is unfortunately deeply corrupted, so will sunset in a few months,” Musk tweeted in response to a question from a user about the accounts that were previously verified and then subscribed for the newer Twitter Blue verification, according to a report by The Hill.
In November, Musk stated that he would in "a few months" remove blue checkmarks from previously verified accounts that did not pay the $8 monthly fee for his Twitter Blue.
In the days following his October acquisition of Tesla, the company's CEO launched his new Twitter verification system.
When the system first launched, there were some issues because a large number of Twitter users who had paid for the subscription pretended to be famous people, confusing the system.
Musk put the Twitter Blue system on hold for a few weeks while he tried to fix the problem.
But after a reporter successfully impersonated Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) with verification, The Washington Post reported last month that Twitter still did not appear to be verifying accounts.
According to him, Twitter needs the subscription to help it pay off its enormous debt. He also fired about half of the company's employees in an effort to reduce expenses.
Musk acquired Twitter in October of last year after waiting for several months. Three people with knowledge of the transaction confirmed to The New York Times that Musk had closed the $44 billion deal to acquire the social media platform.
At least four senior Twitter executives, including the CEO and CFO, were fired shortly after as part of his organizational restructuring. Musk met with engineers and advertising executives at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters.
The deal's closing, which came after months of drama and legal issues as Musk changed his mind about purchasing the business due to concerns about actual usage, sent Twitter on an uncertain path.
A self-described "free speech absolutist," Musk has declared his desire to make social media a more open forum for all kinds of commentary and that he would "reverse the permanent ban" of former President Donald J. Trump from the platform.
Musk's candid style of speech on Twitter could exacerbate long-standing problems with harmful information and disinformation impacting political discussions all over the world.
Early tests occurred shortly after Brazil elected a new president and American voters cast ballots in the midterm elections in the midterm elections.
Prior to Musk becoming its owner, Twitter declared that it would forbid presumed false statements regarding the voting process and the results of elections.
