New York (PTI): Twitter is planning to defer the rollout of the verification check marks to its subscribers of the new USD 7.99 a month subscription service until after Tuesday's midterm elections in the US, amid concerns over the spread of false information, a media report has said.
The midterm elections on November 8 will decide the control of the US Congress and other important governorships.
The social media company made the call a day after announcing that it was rolling out the programme for subscribers to receive a verification check mark on their profile for the monthly fee.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Twitter is delaying the rollout of verification check marks to subscribers of its new USD 7.99 a month subscription service until after Tuesday's midterm elections .
Power to the people. Your account will get a blue check mark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow, Twitter said in the announcement for the blue tick on Saturday.
Several Twitter users and employees had voiced concerns that the new badges "could cause confusion ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections because users could easily create verified accounts say, posing as President Biden or as lawmakers or news outlets and publishing false information about voting results which could potentially sow discord," the NYT report said.
One Twitter employee, in an internal company communication, asked why the social network was making such a risky change before elections, which has the potential of causing election interference," the report said.
A manager working on the verification badge project said we've made the decision to move the launch of this release to November 9, after the midterm elections," it said.
In the immediate aftermath following Musk's acquisition of Twitter, the billionaire entrepreneur has orchestrated significant changes at the company, including trimming the workforce by half.
Regarding Twitter's reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over USD 4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50 per cent more than legally required, Musk tweeted on Friday.
The NYT report said that Musk and his advisers have also been discussing various ways to wring more money out of Twitter.
In addition to the check mark programme, they have talked about adding paid direct messages which would let users send private messages to high-profile users to the service, as well as paywalled videos, which would mean that certain videos could not be viewed unless users paid a fee.
In a series of tweets about changes at Twitter, Musk said Trash me all day, but it'll cost USD 8" and that Twitter will soon add the ability to attach long-form text to tweets, ending "absurdity" of notepad screenshots.
He said going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying parody will be permanently suspended.
"Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning. This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue. Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark," he said.
Musk noted that widespread verification will democratise journalism and empower the voice of the people and Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world.
"That's our mission," he added.
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Brazil's Ancelotti raises doubts about whether Neymar will reach the 2026 World Cup
Sao Paulo (AP): Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti raised doubts about whether Neymar will be in his squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Italian has yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May.
“If Neymar deserves to be (in the squad), if he is, well, better than others, he will play in the World Cup and that's it. (But) I don't have debts to anyone,” Ancelotti said at a press conference in Washington on Friday following the draw.
Brazil is in Group C with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland.
“If we speak about Neymar, we have to speak about other players,” Ancelotti added. “We have to think about Brazil with or without Neymar, with or without other players. Our final list we will make after the FIFA fixtures in March.”
The 33-year-old Neymar has never fully recovered from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he's been key for Santos in its fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship.
On Wednesday, he scored a hat trick for Santos despite a muscular injury. He is expected to play again on Sunday against Cruzeiro.
Ancelotti said Brazil does not have a “referential player” at the moment, a tag for the most valuable player that Neymar has mainly worn since the 2014 home World Cup.
“We have one of the world's best goalkeepers, some of the best defenders, top midfielders and some players up front. I don't want players who want to be the best in the world, I want players who want to win the World Cup,” Ancelotti said.
Asked about his team's group, Ancelotti said Brazil can top it.
“We can win all three matches, our idea is very clear. We need to be competitive during the entire World Cup. Our goal is to play in the final and for that to happen you need to face very strong teams anyway.”
Brazil won the last of its five World Cup trophies in 2002.
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