X has agreed to update its verification process in Europe, in line with guidance from the EU Commission, in order to avoid further penalties as a result of its potentially misleading verification checkmarks in the app.
As reported by Bloomberg, X has submitted potential remedies to the Commission for consideration in addressing its concerns, though the final changes haven’t been agreed upon as yet.
Back in December, the EU Commission fined X $US138 million due to various breaches of its DSA obligations relating to transparency, including concerns with X’s changes to its verification process, which now allows anybody to purchase a blue tick marker in the app. The Commission ruled that the change is misleading in some contexts, and could give users the impression that these verified accounts represent official spokespeople and profiles, which was the standard set by the previous, Twitter-assessed verification scheme.
But because anyone can now buy a blue tick, that muddies the waters as to what the marker represents, which the Commission claimed is deceptive, and thus, infringes X’s DSA regulations relating to transparency and assurance.
X owner Elon Musk initially criticized the fine, and even called for the U.S. to leave NATO in response. But now, after some reflection, X has changed its approach, and decided that it will alter its qualifications for verification, in the EU at least, in order to avoid further penalties.
Which could be a big shift.
Musk’s controversial changes to Twitter’s long-standing verification process have been much-criticized, as giving users the option to buy a blue tick negates any potential value that the marker may have once represented.
It used to be that a checkmark meant that the account was a confirmed entity in the app, someone of importance, or an official brand profile. But now, the presence of a blue tick on an X profile is virtually meaningless.
Of course, some would argue that Twitter had compromised the process already, by awarding blue checkmarks to some users that didn’t qualify as notable or “official.” Which is true, but in the majority of cases, the blue tick did represent some level of authority and/or notoriety, making it an indicator of presence in the app.
And now, as the EU Commission argues, it’s not only meaningless, it could be deceptive, due to previously established understanding of what the marker had once meant.
So how will X revise its approach to verification, and what will this mean for the checkmark beyond EU?
We don’t know as yet, because the changes haven’t been communicated publicly, but it could see X implement alternative verification indicators to highlight official, vetted profiles, as opposed to users who’ve purchased a tick.
And if X extends that to other regions, that could mark a significant shift in approach, which may also relate to Meta’s similar Meta Verified package.
