Twitter has suspended the launch of Twitter Blue paid subscription and is actively attempting to prevent individuals from subscribing after a surge of impersonation issues, according to an internal report.
The service’s launch resulted in a rush of imposter accounts, causing confusion and disorder across the platform, Forbes reported on Friday.
Forbes has confirmed that users have been unable to subscribe to the service for more than an hour. However, Twitter has not published an official announcement regarding the deactivation of Twitter Blue.
For most users on Twitter’s iOS app, where the service started this week, the choice to sign up for Twitter Blue has disappeared.
Twitter Blue $8 paid subscription suspended in all countries
Users who could still see an opportunity to sign up for the service got an error message instructing them to return later because the subscription is not currently accessible in their country.
Zoë Schiffer, managing editor of Platformer broke out the news on Twitter. “The announcement was posted on Slack: An update on what we did tonight: hid the entry point to Twitter Blue, added the ‘official’ label for ONLY advertisers. Note: here is at least one way for users to sign up for Blue. Legacy Blue users can go to subscriptions and upgrade.”
According to Shiffer, “Existing Blue subscribers will still have access to their Blue features.”
Since its rollout earlier this week, the newly redesigned Twitter Blue has been plagued by controversy. The service allows any user who pays $8 per month to acquire a verified Twitter badge without really proving their identity. This resulted in an influx of new “verified” users impersonating notable personalities and businesses.
Imposter accounts created confusion
Most of these imposter accounts are difficult to identify from the actual thing at first view. They cause a lot of issues among Twitter users, with several retweeting false information from these fraudulent accounts.
Among the most well-known of these scammers was a user who set up a new verified account with the handle @EliLillyandCo. The scam account tweeted, “We are delighted to announce insulin is now free.”
The false tweet was active on the site for many hours and acquired a lot of attention. Eli Lilly and Co had to release a statement from their legitimate profile @Lillypad. “We regret to individuals who have been delivered a false message from a phony Lilly account,” they wrote.
The false account was finally removed, but a few others quickly appeared. They mimicked other large corporations such as Pepsi, Tesla, BP, and organizations such as AIPAC.
