Elon Musk’s new $8 blue checkmarks cause chaos on Twitter as pranksters impersonate LeBron James

Elon Musk’s efforts to authenticate Twitter users sparked a nervous moment for Los Angeles Lakers fans, who thought they were losing franchise cornerstone LeBron James.

“Thank you #LakersNation for all the support throughout the year,” read a tweet from an account with the handle, @KingJamez. ‘On to bigger and better things! #ThekidfromAKRON #ImComingHome.’

No, James will not be sent back to Cleveland for a third stint with the Cavaliers, but instead was impersonated by a Twitter prankster. James’ account uses a slightly different handle: @KingJames.

The confusion was understandable, as the fake James account was adorned with a blue check mark — Twitter’s traditional way of showing that an account user’s identity had been verified.

However, Musk has promised a change to that system following his $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform. The ticks will be available at an undisclosed date to anyone willing to pay a $7.99 per month subscription, which will also include some bonus features such as fewer ads and the ability to give tweets more visibility than those coming from. are from non-subscribers.

Experts have expressed concern that making the tick available for a fee could lead to impersonation and the spread of misinformation and scams.

Those fears proved prescient for Lakers fans, who were tricked into thinking James was making his way out of Los Angeles. And given the team’s 2-8 start, such a question would be understandable to a title-focused player approaching 40.

Twitter has already banned the @KingJamez handle under Musk’s directive to suspend any user impersonating someone else without clearly identifying as a parody account.

Similarly, another user who parodied ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter was suspended despite the obvious label: @AdamSchefterNOT.

“Josh McDaniels is out as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, sources tell ESPN,” read a tweet from the @AdamSchefterNOT account.

There are approximately 423,000 verified accounts under the outbound system. Many of these belong to celebrities, companies and politicians, as well as the media.

But a large proportion of verified accounts belong to individual journalists, some with small followings at local newspapers and news sites around the world. The idea was to verify reporters so that their identities could not be used to spread false information on Twitter.

Musk tried to reassure major companies that advertise on Twitter on Wednesday that his chaotic takeover of the social media platform won’t harm their brands, acknowledging that some “stupid things” could happen in his path to creating what he says is a better, safer user experience.

The latest whimsical move on the minds of major advertisers on whom the company depends for revenue was Musk’s decision to do away with a new “official” label on high-profile Twitter accounts just hours after its introduction.

Twitter began adding the gray labels to some prominent accounts on Wednesday, including brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple, to indicate that they are authentic. A few hours later, the labels started to disappear.

“Besides being an aesthetic nightmare looking at the Twitter feed, it was another way to create a two-class system,” the billionaire Tesla CEO told advertisers in an hour-long talk that went live. broadcast on Twitter. “It wasn’t about the core problem.”

Media sites such as The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have been given official labeling, as have most major corporate brands. And then they were gone.

Before they disappeared, the labels caused confusion. For example, users in London could see an ‘official’ label associated with a BBC News account, but the label did not appear to users in the US

YouTube personality and author John Green jokingly remarked that he got the label, but his younger brother and ‘vlogging’ partner Hank Green didn’t make it. But then John Green’s label also disappeared. Another popular YouTuber, Marques Brownlee, who posts videos about technology, tweeted that he was getting the label and then tweeted again that it was disappearing, which caught the attention of Musk himself.

“I just killed it,” Musk replied, though it wasn’t clear at first whether he was referring specifically to Brownlee’s label or the entire project.

The gray label — a color that tends to blend into the background whether you’re using light or dark mode to scroll through Twitter — was an apparent compromise. But it was expected to lead to more confusion, as Twitter users who were used to the blue check mark as an authenticity mark would now have to look for the less obvious “official” designation.

Esther Crawford, a Twitter employee who has been working on the verification overhaul, had said on Twitter on Tuesday that the “official” label would be added to “select accounts” when the new system launches.

“Not all previously verified accounts will be labeled ‘Official’ and the label is not available for purchase,” said Crawford, who was recently the subject of a viral photo showing her sleeping on the floor of a Twitter office. while she worked to meet Musk’s terms.

Crawford said those receiving the label would include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures. But after the labels began to disappear on Wednesday, she took to Twitter again to say “there are no more holy cows in product on Twitter.”

“Elon is willing to try many things — many will fail, some will succeed,” she said. “The goal is to find the right mix of successful changes to ensure the long-term health and growth of the company.”