Big Update! Only Verified Accounts Can Vote In Twitter Polls From April 15, Elon Musk Confirms

New Delhi: Elon Musk said on Monday only verified Twitter accounts would be eligible to vote in polls starting April 15, a move that the social media company’s CEO believes to be only ‘realistic’

New Delhi: Elon Musk said on Monday only verified Twitter accounts would be eligible to vote in polls starting April 15, a move that the social media company’s CEO believes to be only ‘realistic’ way to address the advanced AI bots on the social media platform. He also announced that from April 15 only verified accounts will be eligible to be in ‘For You’ recommendation.

“Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations. The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for same reason”, Musk tweeted.

Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations.

The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle.

Voting in polls will require verification for same reason.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023

The announcement comes after Musk’s revelation last week that all users with “legacy” verification will lose their badges next month. Only those who register for Twitter Blue for $8 per month will get to retain their blue checks.

“On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue and Organizations can sign up for Verified Organizations”, Twitter had said in a tweet.

You’ll still be able to view tweets from the accounts you follow in your ‘Following’ tab, and you’ll still be able to see tweets from non-Twitter Blue accounts in other areas, like Explore trends. But it will limit visibility, which could prompt more accounts to pay up, and boost Twitter’s revenue intake from subscriptions.

The algorithmic For You timeline was rolled out back in January, giving users the option to view popular tweets from users they don’t necessarily follow. Twitter also has a Following tab, where users will only see content from accounts they follow.

Twitter first launched verified accounts in 2009 to identify that celebrities, politicians, companies and brands, news organizations and other accounts “of public interest” were genuine and not impostor or parody accounts. The company didn’t previously charge for verification.