A pay-to-play operation utilizing Twitter verification badges has come to light, thanks to a recent sequence of tweets from Elon Musk.
A person claimed that Twitter employees were selling verification for about $15,000 in response to Elon’s remark. They alleged that Twitter would offer to verify specific accounts privately for an expensive cost rather than through the normal application process.
Obtaining a Twitter verification badge is a status signal. Through a unique response tab, they allow verified users to communicate virtually exclusively with other verified individuals. According to Musk, the process for granting these badges is so defective that anyone may purchase them from a third party.
The new CEO of Twitter agreed, responding “yup” to the claim. This comes after Elon Musk promised to sell verification for $8 and fired half of the social platform’s workforce just one day earlier.
Yup
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 5, 2022
It is unknown what penalties current or former Twitter employees may face in the future if an investigation reveals the existence of a pay-to-play scheme at the business.
