Twitter asks congressional campaigns to pay up for verification

Twitter this week notified congressional offices that while lawmakers’ official accounts will be spared from the social media platform’s recent verification purge, their campaign and personal accounts will not, according to an email obtained by The Technology 202.

In a note to Capitol Hill staffers on Wednesday, Twitter outlined “a new policy for grey checkmark eligibility,” the revamped system it has rolled out to verify official government accounts.

“Moving forward, only official accounts of Members of Congress will be badged, personal/campaign accounts will not be provided a grey badge,” the email stated, adding that there will be a “de-badging” period for the latter accounts starting at the beginning of May.

For lawmakers to stay verified on their campaign and personal accounts, Twitter suggested, they will need to pay up like everybody else.

“We encourage the consideration of Twitter Blue as an alternative to experiencing the new and latest features on the platform,” said the email, addressed simply from “Twitter.”

Twitter did not return a request for comment.

The note offers clarity about how the company’s new verification rules - which have sparked significant confusion - will deal with some of its most powerful U.S. users.

But the decision to remove automatic verification from hundreds of accounts for lawmakers and candidates could open the door for a wave of impostors.

Twitter last Thursday started to remove the “blue check” verification marks it has long used to authenticate the identity of high-profile users from thousands of accounts.

Twitter chief Elon Musk said the move was aimed at ridding the site of what he called a “lords & peasants system” and meant to “democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people.”

The changes drew blowback from some prominent users, including basketball star LeBron James and author Stephen King who said the company was falsely suggesting they had paid to stay verified when they had not. Musk later said he comped the costs for some major users.

The confusion didn’t end there.

Some users seized on the removal of thousands of blue check marks to impersonate political figures, including the late senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), highlighting the risks of the new rules.

A number of official accounts belonging to celebrities who have passed were still verified too, with their profiles stating that they are “verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number,” as my colleagues reported.

Some have gone so far as to protest the changes by blocking users who pay to be verified under the regime, rallying around the hashtag #BlockTheBlue.

It was also unclear how the company would approach verification for public officials, government agencies and other political figures.

The company’s new policy stated that the following could be eligible for the “grey checkmark” verification: “Heads of state … deputy heads of state … national-level cabinet members or equivalent, the main official spokesperson for the executive branch or equivalent, and individual members of all chambers of the supranational or national congress, parliament, or equivalent.”

But it did not explicitly address campaign or personal accounts.

Twitter last week stripped verification labels from the accounts of dozens of government officials and political figures, including state governors, presidential candidates, local mayors, congressional candidates, congressional committees, federal agencies and global leaders, according to a review by The Technology 202.

On Friday, some of those officials, including dozens of governors, appeared to have gained the new verification.

Lawmakers and candidates often use social media platforms to engage with constituents and voters and disseminate public information.