Twitter has announced that it is relaunching its verification process on 20 January 2021. The social media platform closed down its initial verification program in 2017 after several controversies—including multiple white supremacists being verified through the system.
In late November, Twitter has posted a draft version of its new guidelines to determine if you’re worthy of a blue verified badge. According to their guidelines, the platform goes in great detail on how six types of accounts can get verified—including government officials, brands/nonprofits, news, entertainment, sports, and activists.
The 20 January date isn’t when you’re able to apply for the blue tick. Twitter will use that date to begin removing verification badges from inactive accounts and those that don’t meet its new requirements. The date to apply for verification has not yet been stated.
Twitter also shared their updated guidelines after posting their draft and getting feedback from the public. They said that “public feedback has become a critical part of our policy development process”.
Updated guidelines for Twitter verification
- You no longer require a profile bio or header image.
- Twitter clarified the titles of the News category to include News and Journalists and the Sports category to include Sports and e-sports to be more inclusive.
- Twitter also added a reference in the Entertainment category to more clearly include digital content creators.
- Twitter will no longer measure the minimum follower count requirement on a per-country basis. It will now be a per-region basis to make the follower count requirements less susceptible to spam and more equitable across geographies.
How to apply for verification in 2021
According to Twitter, public applications for verification in 2021 will be available on the app under Account Settings. The Request Verification option will be under Security.
Twitter also said it will use both human review and an automated system to wade through requests. Besides that, the platform will “share more details about the application process soon”.
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