Tesla’s CEO says he will delay resuming the registration process by two weeks to ensure it is “rock solid”.
Elon Musk has delayed the relaunch of his paid Twitter service after the billionaire overhauled the platform’s verification policies that led to an explosion of fake accounts.
The CEO of Tesla, who has rocked Twitter since buying the platform for $44bn last month, said he would delay the launch for two weeks to make sure it was “rock solid”.
“Resetting Blue Verified until November 29th to ensure it’s robust,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday.
The move comes after Musk’s previous decision to offer a blue Twitter account to every user for $7.99 a month led to the rise of fake accounts, including fake profiles of former US President Donald Trump and NBA star LeBron James.
Twitter last week suspended the new registration process and placed gray “approved” badges on the profiles of big people and big companies in an effort to eliminate confusion and misinformation on the platform.
Musk wrote on Tuesday that under the re-registration process, “changing your verified name will result in the loss of the trademark until the name is verified by Twitter to meet the Terms of Service”.
Twitter’s original verification system offered a free account to popular users and accounts that were considered useful to the community.
Musk criticized the previous policy, which was put in place to prevent accounts from being taken from people, as “the system of lords and farmers”.
Twitter’s latest plans come after weeks of turmoil at the social media giant, marked by mass layoffs, high-profile layoffs and a run away from advertisers.
Major companies, including General Motors, Audi, General Mills and United Airlines, have pulled or suspended sales on Twitter amid concerns about the future of the platform under Musk.
Speaking at the G20 business event on Monday, Musk said he’s “had a lot of work on my plate” since taking over Twitter and doubted many people would want to be him.
