Twitter gave a fake Disney account verification status at the weekend.
The account, called @DisneyJuniorUK, was tweeting vile content, but managed to be verified with a gold tick before being suspended.
The owner alerted his followers by saying “this isn’t actually real right. someone pinch me or something” – and the tweet has since gone viral.
It comes as confusion continues at how Twitter’s updated verification system is working.
Twitter has been approached for comment.
Meanwhile, the “real” Disney Junior account has also been given a gold badge.
Last week Twitter dropped blue marks from “legacy” verified accounts and there is a new colour scheme to its verification system – under the guidance of owner Elon Musk.
Despite many celebrity accounts initially losing their badges – over the weekend most of them were reinstated, with almost every user with more than one million followers receiving a new blue tick.
Social media consultant Matt Navara told the BBC the decision to remove legacy checkmarks was a big mistake, “possibly Elon’s biggest Twitter mistake so far”.
“Twitter has swung from crisis to crisis in the past six months, since Elon took ownership of the platform,” he said.
“He has now created the perfect breeding ground for fake accounts and misinformation, with no real way of keeping its users (or other brands) safe from the mess of his own making. It would not surprise me if we start to see more brands distance themselves from Twitter following this latest blunder.”
This verification is being shared far and wide as an early example of exactly what critics of Elon Musk have warned about – fake accounts getting a badge of authenticity, giving them free rein to share misinformation under a fake veneer of authority.
In this case, the owner of the account seems as amazed as everybody else that it’s happened – it wasn’t exactly trying to pretend to be an official Disney platform. And that asks even more questions- how did this obvious parody end up with a free gold tick?
Twitter has already rolled back free blue ticks for accounts with more than a million followers, and there are increasing numbers of accounts who seem to have badges for which they haven’t paid.
When Mr Musk took over, he said he wanted to level the playing field on Twitter. It wasn’t fair, he said, that Twitter alone got to decide which voices were more important than others.
But there’s also a responsibility that goes along with running a social network, and so far we are seeing lots of examples of his dream of social media by subscription not quite going to plan.
BBC
Follow us on:
The Federal High court in Abuja has remanded 109 foreign nationals in correctional centres over…
The NCAA has renewed the Aerodrome certificates of Nnamdi Azikiwe and Murtala Muhammed airports, reflecting…
FCT Minister Wike has said he has no regrets over the construction of judiciary quarters…
The Nigerian government has confirmed Simon Ekpa’s arrest in Finland, promising to provide updates as…
Obasanjo, at the funeral of former ICPC Chairman Olayinka Ayoola, said that Nigeria must fight…
The Appeal Court has reserved its judgement as Governor Fubara challenged the ruling halting allocations…
View Comments
announcement!!!!! announcement!!!!! !!NIGERIA 🇳🇬 CUST0M SERVICE REPLACEMENT FORM IS FINALLY OUT FOR 2023/2024 BATCH B AND YOU CAN GET IT DIRECTLY FROM THE ZONAL HEADQUARTERS IN NIGERIA INTERESTED APPLICANT THAT HAS WAECE, NECO, NCE, ND, HND, BSC CAN APPLY PLEASE KINDLY CONTACT ME ON: FOR MORE INQUIRIES
CONTACT
OFFICER Eze ON
[O7O 4540 6674 ]
CARS FEATURES AND
PRICE BELOW
GOLF 2,3,4,5 #250,000
TOYOTA CAMRY BIG
DADDY #550,000
TOYOTA CAMRY
TINYLIGH= #350,000
TOYOTA CAMRY
MUSCLE= #850,000
TOYOTA CAMRY
PENCILLIGHT=#400,000
TOYOTA COROLLA
le=#550,000
TOYOTA COROLLA
S=#750,000
TOYOTA
VENZA=#950,00 1.8m
TOYOTA Hilux 1.5 million
TOYOTA AVALON
#800,000
TOYOTA AVENSIS
#700,000
TOYOTA RAV4 1.2m
TOYOTA SIENNA
#550,000
TOYOTA
4runner#850,000
TOYOTA TUNDRA 1.9m
TOYOTA PICNIC
#550,000
TOYOTA Highlander
#950,000
TOYOTA PADRO JEEP
1.6m
TOYOTA LAND
CRUISER=1.5m
TOYOTA YARIS #550,000
TOYOTA MATRIX
#750,000
TOYOTA HAICE BUS
#950,000
ACCURA ZDX 1.6m
ACCURA MDX 1.9m
HONDA PILOT #950,00
HONDA BABY BOY
#590,000
HONDA END OF
DISCUSSION
HONDA ACCORD
#550,000
Honda CR-V #850,000
INFINITY fx450 #750,000
to 1.4m
NISSAN MURANO
#650,00
LEXUS RX 350 #1. 2m
LEXUS RS 330 # 850,000
LEXUS RS 300 # 750,000
LEXUS RX 470 1.5m
All NEGOTIABLE WE
RENDER GOOD SERVICE
TO CUSTOMER ....{ E.T .C}
LOCATION AT OGUN
STATE IDIROKO BORDER WE
HAVE TWO OPTION
ELDER WE DELIVERY OR
YOU COME OVER IF WE
HAVE TO COME OVER WE
NEED THIS FROM YOU
{1} NATIONAL ID CARD
{2} BORDER PERMIT
{3} INSPECTION DOCUMENTS
{4} 2PASSPORT
THANKS FOR YOUR
PATRONAGE WE
DELIVER TO 36 STATE IN
NIGERIA AND ALSO
COME DOWN WITH THE
FULL PAYMENT CALL
FOR MORE
INFORMATION
{O7O 4540-6674}