Twitter “ paused ” verification in 2017 after the company verified a white nationalist. The company continued to verify thousands of accounts in the years since, but it was an ad hoc process available only to people who had a direct connection to Twitter employees. This led to complaints that the process was confusing to navigate, and that underprivileged people were prone to harassment.
However, with the updated policy, Twitter allows users to request verification in the “account settings” section of its app and website. The company says exact details for the process will come at a later date, but it will use a combination of automation and human evaluators to evaluate applications. It added that it gives users the ability to share demographic information with their request to “better measure and improve the fairness of our verification process.”
Twitter began getting feedback on a new verification policy last month, sharing the broad categories it would use to evaluate who should be verified. These categories include government officials, journalists, brands, as well as prominent individuals and organizations from the sports and entertainment industry. There is also a final category for “activists, organizers and other influential individuals”, for those who may not fit neatly into the other categories. Twitter added that it can also add special categories for academics and religious leaders.
In addition to the verification changes, Twitter is also working on new labels for bots and memorial accounts that belonged to people who have since passed away. The company said the labels would be similar to those it adds to government agencies, election candidates and state media.