Twitter pauses "official" labels on select accounts

WASHINGTON: Twitter on Thursday announced that it is not putting the "Official" label on the accounts, even though it is still going after impersonation and deception.

A tweet from the 'Twitter Support' account read, "We're not currently putting an "Official" label on accounts but we are aggressively going after impersonation and deception."

Twitter's executive Esther Crawford also informed why the "Official" label is being used. "A lot of folks have asked about how you'll be able to distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official, which is why we're introducing the "Official" label to select accounts when we launch," she tweeted.

Earlier, Twitter started labelling Indian government handles and Indian media as "official" ahead of the roll-out of blue tick subscriptions across the country.

In the Twitter handles of various Indian government organizations, the "official" label was noticed. For example, Prime Minister's Office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official Twitter account, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's Twitter account also have the "official label".

This follows Twitter's decision to roll out a second verification label to limit confusion between legitimate accounts and those that pay for their blue ticks. Twitter's executive Esther Crawford said verified accounts will now come with an "Official" label beneath their username, complete with a grey verification checkmark, New York Post reported.

"Not all previously verified accounts will get the 'Official' label and the label is not available for purchase," New York Post quoted Crawford as saying. Official pages will be designated for "government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers, and some public figures," she added.

Since completing the Twitter deal, the wealthiest man on the planet has made a flurry of decisions impacting the working of the social media giant that has millions of daily active users. A Reuters report said Elon Musk's net worth has dropped below USD 200 billion as investors dumped Tesla's shares on fears that the top executive and largest shareholder of the world's most valuable electric-vehicle maker is more preoccupied with Twitter. So far this year, data showed that Tesla shares have declined over 50 per cent.