The New York Times claimed, citing an internal Twitter memo, that Musk was putting his policy on hold – for the time being – due to worries that his verification service would propagate fake news across his social media network, potentially influencing voters during the midterm elections.
Employees at Twitter were outraged, saying that anyone could pay the blue check subscription fee and create accounts impersonating President Biden, members of Congress, or journalistic organisations. Scammers might then use the verified accounts to spread fake information about voting results, instilling suspicion among residents ahead of Tuesday’s election.
One Twitter employee, who was communicating with coworkers via the internal Slack channel, questioned why the business was “making such a hazardous change before elections, which has the potential to cause election meddling.”
Under criticism, Twitter management opted to push the subscription fee distribution date to November 9, one day after the election.
