Twitter chaos after wave of blue tick impersonations

A wave of new paid blue tick accounts impersonating influential individuals and brands has led to chaos and confusion on Twitter.

Fake "verified" accounts in the names of politicians, celebrities, major organisations and businesses started appearing on the platform.

It's a Thursday, and a variety of Twitter accounts with GAN-generated faces have paid $8 for a blue checkmark. #BlueCheckShenaniGANS

(GAN = "generative adversarial network", the AI technology used by tools like https://t.co/AxF5724n8M)

cc: @ZellaQuixote pic.twitter.com/qyotNJMDXL

— Conspirador Norteño (@conspirator0) November 10, 2022

Twitter suspended many of them, but the company's rapidly changing attempts to address the issue added to the confusion.

Experts had previously warned that the new Twitter Blue subscription service announced by new chief Elon Musk, which allows users to pay US $7.99 per month for a blue tick, would be immediately exploited by bad actors and scammers, and erode trust in the platform.

To combat impersonation, we’ve added an “Official” label to some accounts.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 11, 2022

Source: BBC