Twitter plans to dole out blue check badges again starting early next year, but it wants your feedback on its new policy for general verification before that happens. Back in 2017, the website came under fire for verifying white supremacists and Neo-Nazis on the platform, forcing the company to put general verification on pause until it figures things out. “Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it,” Twitter Support posted at the time.
The company verified at least 1,000 health experts earlier this year in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19-related misinformation. However, the process remained opaque and the verification program was still officially on hold. That will change next year if everything goes smoothly. Twitter says the new policy will determine what verification truly means, who’s eligible to be verified and why some accounts could lose their check marks. To prevent a repeat of 2017, it’s now seeking users’ input before enforcing the new policy by making its draft copy available to the public. Users can either answer Twitter’s survey or tweet their feedback with the hashtag #VerificationFeedback.