Twitter has confirmed it is testing a brand new profile badge for customers who’ve verified their cellphone numbers.
App researcher Jane Manchun Wong identified the function final week, discovering the Twitter label that would seem on accounts with a verified cellphone quantity. Twitter then confirmed the function to TechCrunch on Tuesday, telling the writer it was an effort to “permit individuals so as to add context to their accounts.”
Mashable has reached out for additional info on the function.
Verified “blue verify” accounts should have both a cellphone quantity or e-mail handle linked, to assist Twitter with the account verification course of. The brand new “verified cellphone quantity” function seems to show a gray label on the underside half of an individual’s Twitter bio.
You’ll be able to apply to get verified on Twitter. Here is how.
However the function notably lands amid the app’s ongoing battle with Elon Musk. The deal between the Tesla CEO and Twitter continues to be one thing of a saga, with the richest man on this planet making an attempt to terminate the multi-billion-dollar acquisition. Musk has been vocal about bot fears — claiming that a big chunk of accounts on Twitter are faux or spam accounts, and alleging this had violated the deal contract.
The verified cellphone quantity badge could also be a manner for Twitter to fight this, although it drudges up an entire lot of different points, particularly within the realm of privateness.
Twitter only in the near past handled an incident the place somebody was in a position to uncover whether or not a selected e-mail handle or cellphone quantity was tied to an current account on the app. This “vulnerability” was first reported to Twitter in January 2022 by means of the platform’s bug bounty program, however in June, Twitter discovered by means of a press report (probably this one from Bleeping Pc) that somebody had “probably leveraged this” and was providing to promote info they’d acquired, reportedly affecting 5.4 million accounts.
