Twitter Is Pausing Its Verification Program Again

Twitter on Friday announced that it was temporarily pausing its newly-relaunched verification program.

“We’ve temporarily hit pause on rolling out access to apply for Verification so we can make improvements to the application and review process,” Twitter said. “For those who have been waiting, we know this may be disappointing. We want to get things right, and appreciate your patience.”

Some users responded to the tweet, expressing frustration at the program, which just reopened its application process in May after a three-year hiatus.

Don’t worry, we’re working through reviewing all of the applications we’ve received as quickly as we can.

— Twitter Verified (@verified) August 13, 2021

Twitter assured users that it was “working through reviewing all of the applications we’ve received as quickly as we can.”

The program was initially launched by Twitter in 2009 as a way for the platform to identify high-profile users that were at risk of being impersonated. The program requires users to submit an application that proves their identity and provides compelling reason for them to be considered for verification.

The company paused the program in 2017, citing a misinterpretation of the program as an “endorsement or an indicator of importance.”

The program admitted last month that it mistakenly verified a “small number” of fake accounts, adding that those accounts were now permanently suspended.

In other news, Twitter recently held a competition to help fix its image cropping algorithm, which revealed that its AI favors younger, slimmer and lighter faces.