Is Twitter’s new blue tick system ILLEGAL? Elon Musk’s decision to give some accounts badges against their will leaves the platform ‘legally exposed’, experts warn
- All ‘legacy’ blue ticks instated before Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover are now gone
- The billionaire is paying the Twitter Blue subscription for certain celebrities
- This gives them the blue tick for free, but could be viewed as ‘false endorsement’
Elon Musk’s decision to give his favourite celebrities blue ticks on Twitter may get him in trouble with the law, experts say.
Last week, the billionaire took the decision to remove all ‘legacy’ check marks, which were instated prior to his takeover of the platform.
Many users have openly stated that they will not pay for a Twitter Blue subscription to regain this mark of verification, which is now the only way to get one.
However, since then, a few public figures have expressed confusion that they still have the blue tick on their profile, despite not being a subscriber.
Musk has confirmed that he is ‘personally’ paying for these subscriptions, which means he could be violating rules set by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Elon Musk’s decision to give his favourite celebrities blue ticks on Twitter may get him in trouble with the law, experts say (file image)
Musk has said that he is ‘personally’ paying the Twitter Blue subscriptions of some celebrities, which means he could be violating rules set by the US Federal Trade Commission
When you click on any blue tick on Twitter now, a banner pops up that reads ‘this account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number’.
TWITTER’S NEW VERIFICATION SYSTEM
Blue ticks
Twitter Blue is a subscription service that gives users a ‘Blue Tick’ of verification for a monthly fee.
It currently costs £9.60, or $8, per month for those who purchase the service through the web, but £11, or $11, per month through Apple iOS.
Gold ticks
Companies that want to keep their ‘official’ Twitter checkmark will be given no option but to pay £11,400 per year – plus an extra £50/month to have affiliated business accounts.
Grey ticks
These badges are used to verify government accounts and associated bodies.
Governments do not have to pay a cost for these ticks.
It unequivocally indicates that the user pays for the £11 or $11-a-month subscription service.
So, doling out subscriptions to people and institutions that didn’t want them and implying that they paid for it, could be regarded as false advertising on Musk’s part.
‘False endorsements violate FTC rules, legally exposing Musk,’ said Timothy Kerr, senior director of strategy and communications for the media advocacy group Free Press told The Independent.
The Lanham Act is a federal law in the United States that governs trademarks, service marks and unfair competition.
Its regulations prohibit advertising strategies that may cause confusion or deceive consumers about the nature or quality of a product or service
Alejandra Caraballo, an instructor at the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School, said that public figures gifted with subscriptions demonstrate ‘false endorsement’.
Other Twitter users will see the blue tick and assume they are paying for and endorsing Twitter Blue, as there is no indication that Musk is doing this on their behalf.
Ms Caraballo said: ‘If you are just giving out blue checks to certain accounts and it didn’t say that [it was subscribed to Twitter Blue], it would probably not be as big a deal because of the verification that they had previously, it just meant that they were somewhat notable.’
That said, a false endorsement lawsuit would be limited to ‘actual damages’ the person suffered as a result, Ms Caraballo added.
‘My guess is the most common thing is that if someone really is upset about this, they could send a cease-and-desist letter to get Twitter to take it down,’ she said.
The account belonging to the Auschwitz Memorial, which regularly tweets out photos and names of Holocaust victims, tweeted on Sunday that after two days of no checkmark ‘our account got the blue tick back’. But it said it was ‘obliged to clarify that the Memorial never subscribed and paid for the Twitter Blue as it might be implied’
Verification badges also appeared on the accounts of #BlockTheBlue campaign supporters, who block all accounts subscribed to Twitter Blue
Under the original blue tick system, Twitter had roughly 400,000 verified users, including Hollywood actors and star athletes as well as journalists, human rights activists and public agencies.
In the past, the checks meant that Twitter had verified that users were who they said they were, as a method to prevent impersonation and the spread of misinformation.
But now anyone can buy a Twitter Blue subscription, and it no longer means the user is verified – other than confirming a phone number.
As well as the blue tick, the service promises a number of features including the ability to have more people see their tweets.
When Twitter Blue was first rolled out in November, users were quick to take advantage of the opportunity to essentially buy this symbol of authenticity.
Accounts impersonating famous people and corporations, including Musk himself, flooded the platform.
This forced the second richest man in the world to halt the verification process, but not before worried advertisers pulled their contracts.
Twitter Blue was relaunched the following month, with new systems to denote different types of verified accounts to help keep bad actors in check.
At the time, it did not require organisations with legacy check marks to pay for a subscription service in order to keep it, but this is no longer the case.
Elon Musk slams Stephen King after author blasted Twitter owner for donating his blue check mark – READ MORE HERE
Elon Musk clammed horror writer Stephen King after the author suggested the Twitter CEO donate his check mark to charity
Many prominent Twitter users have been openly disdainful of Musk charging users for a verification checkmark in order to make the company more profitable, including Stephen King.
In November, after the new CEO said he may start charging $20 a month for Twitter Blue, the legendary horror author was outraged.
‘$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me,’ King tweeted.
‘If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.’
Musk responded, asking him what he thought of a price of $8 a month instead.
The two had another lighthearted spat the following week, when King said ‘I think I liked Twitter better in the pre-Musk days’.
The Tesla boss then admitted he is ‘still a fan of [him]’ – so much so that he decided to give him a Twitter Blue subscription last week without his consent.
King tweeted: ‘My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t.
‘My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.’
Musk was quick to respond with ‘you’re welcome namaste’, insinuating the apparent subscription was a personal gift.
Author Stephen King tweeted: ‘My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t.’ Musk was quick to respond with ‘you’re welcome namaste’, insinuating the apparent Twitter Blue subscription was a personal gift
William Shatner, an actor best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, has also been given a free blue tick.
Musk is a clear fan of his, congratulating his bitter rival Jeff Bezos after he sent the now 92-year-old actor into space in 2021 on his Blue Origin rocket.
The freebee was given despite Shatner tweeting ‘I’ve been here for 15 years giving my (clock emoji) & witty thoughts all for bupkis. Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free?’ in March.
At the time Musk responded, somewhat ironically, saying that there shouldn’t be a different standard for celebrities.
‘It’s more about treating everyone equally,’ he tweeted.
Back in November, the South African billionaire said that the reason for the removal of legacy badges was to do away with the ‘lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark’.
Elon Musk is ‘personally’ paying for William Shatner (left), LeBron James (middle) and Stephen King (right) to keep their verified blue ticks on Twitter
Musk clarified in a tweet that it was ‘just Shatner, LeBron and King’ who would receive this preferential treatment. Since then, other high profile accounts have also been given blue ticks
It is a similar story for basketball star James, who tweeted that he ‘ain’t paying the 5’ for Twitter Blue on March 31.
This was the day before the legacy checkmarks were due to be removed from profiles the first time, but did not end up happening until last week.
According to a report from The Verge, a Twitter employee emailed James ‘to extend a complimentary subscription… on behalf of Elon Musk’.
Musk clarified in a tweet that it was ‘just Shatner, LeBron and King’ who would receive this preferential treatment.
Since then, however, other accounts have had their legacy checkmarks replaced with Twitter Blue checkmarks without their knowledge or payment.
The account belonging to the Auschwitz Memorial, which regularly tweets out photos and names of Holocaust victims, tweeted on Sunday that after two days of no checkmark ‘our account got the blue tick back’.
But it said it was ‘obliged to clarify that the Memorial never subscribed and paid for the Twitter Blue as it might be implied.’
It is a similar story for basketball star LeBron James, who tweeted that he ‘ain’t paying the 5’ for Twitter Blue on March 31. He thought that Twitter Blue cost $5 at the time
It initially appeared LeBron James chose to pay money to stay verified on Twitter
Other high-profile accounts with more than 1 million followers also took to Twitter to make it clear they didn’t pay to get their blue check back. Those who chimed in included Massachusetts Institute of Technology, actor Bette Midler, gymnast Simone Biles Owens, writer Neil Gaiman and rapper Lil Nas X
Other high-profile accounts with more than 1 million followers also took to Twitter to make it clear they didn’t pay to get their blue check back.
Those who chimed in included Massachusetts Institute of Technology, actor Bette Midler, gymnast Simone Biles Owens, writer Neil Gaiman and rapper Lil Nas X.
‘On my soul i didn’t pay for twitter blue, u will feel my wrath tesla man!’ wrote the rapper who has 8 million followers.
Added Gaiman, who has 3 million followers: ‘What a sad, muddled place this has become.’
Verification badges also appeared on the accounts of #BlockTheBlue campaign supporters, who block all accounts subscribed to Twitter Blue.
Musk responded to them with a crying laughing emoji and ‘A troll, me???’, while changing his Twitter name to ‘Trøllheim’.
The Twitter boss has pushed for the premium service as a way to increase revenue, after admitting that his platform is now worth less than half of what he paid for it six months ago.
Art the end of last month, the New York Times claimed that Twitter plans to give free blue ticks to the 500 companies that spend the most on advertising, and the 10,000 with the most followers.
Musk has since confirmed the company is ‘roughly breaking even’.
THE LONG ROAD TO ELON MUSK’S TWITTER TAKEOVER – AND THE CHAOS THAT FOLLOWED
Musk’s takeover of Twitter all began on April 4, when Musk disclosed a 9.2 per cent Twitter stake, becoming the company’s largest shareholder.
The world’s richest person then agreed to join Twitter’s board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share.
Twitter accepted the offer later in April, but the following month Musk said the deal is on hold pending a review of bot accounts.
His lawyers then accused Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.
The acrimony resulted in Musk telling Twitter on July 8 he was terminating the deal, and four days later, Twitter sued Musk to force him to complete the acquisition.
Twitter accused Musk of buyer’s remorse, arguing he wanted out of the deal because he thought he overpaid.
On October 4, Musk performed another U-turn, offering to complete the deal as promised. He managed to do that one day ahead of a deadline to avoid a trial.
Since becoming owner, Musk – who also runs Tesla and SpaceX – has wasted no time making significant changes to Twitter, including firing top execs and dissolving the board of directors.
He’s also confirmed going to make Twitter users pay $8 per month to have a blue tick next to their account name, calling the current ‘lords and peasants’ system ‘bulls**t’.
Musk previously mulled a $20 per month blue tick verification fee, but appeared to lower the cost following criticism from horror author Stephen King;, among others.
Musk has also already specified his intention to form a content moderation council with ‘widely diverse viewpoints’.
‘No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes,’ he said.
He has also reportedly brought more than 50 of his Tesla staff who were mostly working on the electric car company’s autopilot team to review and work on code for Twitter.
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