Musk reverses decision on ‘Official’ label for some verified accounts

The 'Official' label is not available for purchase. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 09 November 2022
Follow

Musk reverses decision on ‘Official’ label for some verified accounts

Hours after the announcement of an “Official” label for select verified accounts including major media outlets and governments, Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter announced that he “killed it”.

Musk added: “Blue check will be the great leveler.”

He went on to say that “Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months,” and will keep what works and change what doesn’t.

Twitter’s early stage products executive Esther Crawford said earlier on Tuesday that the platform will introduce an “Official” label for select verified accounts including major media outlets and governments when it launches its new $8 premium subscription product.

Crawford also confirmed that the revamped Twitter Blue subscription product, which will allow paid users to carry blue check marks on their accounts, will not actually verify users’ identities. The lack of ID verification is likely to raise concerns about the possibility of people impersonating public figures.

Already, such concerns have caused Twitter to hold off on launching the new version of Twitter Blue until after the US midterm elections on Tuesday, tweeted Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity.

Fake accounts for government officials are a recurring issue for Twitter globally, according to sources familiar with the matter and researchers.

Not all Twitter accounts that were previously verified with a blue check mark would get the “Official” label and the label is not available for purchase, Crawford had said.

However, accounts of governments, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some other public figures would get the label, she tweeted.

The introduction of a new label alongside the existing check marks “creates a confusing system” where some, but not all, previously verified accounts will be deemed official, said Jason Goldman, a former Twitter board member who served as head of product in its early years.

“It’s a complete mess,” he said.

The idea for an official label came after an internal push by Twitter policy executives, who had strong concerns about government officials around the world being unlikely and unwilling to pay for verified check marks, one source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Twitter, which has lost many members of its communication team, did not respond to Reuter’s request for further comment.

Crawford added on Tuesday that Twitter will “continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.”


Israel arrests 2 Turkish CNN journalists over live broadcast outside IDF HQ

Updated 03 March 2026
Follow

Israel arrests 2 Turkish CNN journalists over live broadcast outside IDF HQ

  • Police said reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility
  • Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites

LONDON: Israeli police have arrested two Turkish CNN journalists who were broadcasting live outside the Israel Defense Forces’ headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Police said the pair were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility, according to the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit.

Reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman, from the network’s Turkish-language channel, had been reporting near the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters on Tuesday after Iran launched another missile barrage at Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel.

During the live broadcast, two men believed to be soldiers approached the crew and seized the reporter’s phone, according to initial reports and a video circulating online that could not be independently verified.

Police said officers were dispatched after receiving reports of two people carrying cameras and allegedly broadcasting in real time for a foreign outlet.

Israel’s long-standing military censorship system, overseen by the IDF Military Censor, has long barred journalists and civilians from publishing material deemed harmful to national security.

Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites.

After a series of similar incidents involving foreign media — most of them Palestinian citizens of Israel working for Arab-language and international media, along with foreign journalists — during the 12-Day War, Israeli police halted live international broadcasts from missile impact sites, citing concerns that exact locations were being revealed.

The Government Press Office later imposed a blanket ban on live coverage from crash and impact areas.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir subsequently ordered that all foreign journalists obtain prior written approval from the military censor before broadcasting — live or recorded — from combat zones or missile strike locations.

Police said that when officers asked the CNN Turk crew to identify themselves, they presented expired press cards and were taken in for questioning.

Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications, condemned the arrests as an attack on the press and said Ankara is working to secure the journalists’ release.