Twitter Suspends Paid Service 'Twitter Blue' Amid Fake Celebrity Impersonation Accounts

Twitter Blue Subscription Disappears from iOS App... 'Subscription Currently Unavailable' Message
LeBron James, Former President Bush, Eli Lilly and Others 'Verified' Impersonation Accounts Increase

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Twitter's newly launched paid account service, 'Twitter Blue,' was eventually suspended after a series of fake accounts impersonating companies, brands, and celebrities appeared.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 11th (local time), the Twitter Blue subscription disappeared from Apple's iOS app that day, and a message stating "Accounts created after November 9th cannot currently subscribe to Twitter Blue" was posted on Twitter's website. WSJ requested a comment from Twitter regarding this, but Twitter did not respond.

Twitter Blue is a service that allows anyone to pay $7.99 per month (approximately 10,500 KRW) to add a 'blue check' mark to their account for verification. Initially, Twitter intended to verify users and increase revenue through this paid verification, but the introduction of the paid service ironically led to 'fake account verification.'

So far, there have been numerous 'verified' fake accounts, including NBA star LeBron James, former U.S. President George W. Bush, and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. These accounts not only impersonated but also posted malicious content. The fake LeBron James account demanded a trade, former President Bush's account posted messages attacking Iraqis, and Eli Lilly suffered actual damage from a fake account. The impersonating account 'EliLillyandCo' posted on the 10th that "insulin is now free," and although the tweet was private and only visible to followers, thousands of users liked it.

In response, the 'real' Eli Lilly stepped in for urgent damage control. Eli Lilly posted a notice saying, "We apologize to those who received misleading messages from fake accounts. Our official Twitter account is @LillyPad." Insulin, used to regulate blood sugar levels in diabetes patients, is a life-saving drug, but its high price is problematic. The pre-insurance price of Eli Lilly's insulin reaches $274.7 (about 360,000 KRW) per vial.

Other impersonated accounts that received the 'blue check' include doll company American Girl, oil company BP PLC, banana producer Chiquita, defense contractor Lockheed Martin, and game companies Roblox and Nintendo. The fake Nintendo account even posted a photo of the game character Mario giving the middle finger.

Until Elon Musk's acquisition last month, Twitter verified famous and trustworthy accounts for free and added the blue check mark. These marks were mainly on accounts operated by politicians, journalists, and celebrities. While these accounts still have the blue verification mark, they are now mixed with users who paid for verification. This week, Twitter attempted to add an 'official' tag and a gray check mark to some verified accounts for clarity but then retracted the move, showing signs of confusion. Earlier, Musk stated, "I want Twitter to be the most accurate source of information in the world and for all users to be verified."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.