Twitter to reopen verification process so users can apply for blue ticks

The feature was found by a researcher and confirmed by Twitter, but it is unclear when he process will open again

They deleted several tweets from Mr Clarke (AP)

Twitter is working on a new verification program, new code shows.

The unreleased features are not yet available to the public but are present in Twitter's app, according to Jane Manchun Wong, a researcher who discovers as-yet-unreleased features in popular services.

The company paused its verification system in 2017 following an outcry after Twitter gave a blue checkmark to white supremacist Jason Kessler. Kessler called Heather Hayer, the woman who died during the white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville a “fat, disgusting Communist” and called her murder “payback time”.

At the time, Twitter said: “Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognise that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it. We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon.”

Since then, Twitter has verified users in very few instances. The company has been verifying global public health authorities in order to better identify experts in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and before that verified survivors of the Parkland shooting.

The company also verified the parents of CEO Jack Dorsey, Tim and Marcia Dorsey, while the verification program was still closed.

When reached for confirmation, the social media site said that Wong’s discovery was accurate but would not comment further. It is currently unclear when the company would reopen verification requests.

Twitter has also been experimenting with a number of other features on its site, including the ability to let users choose who can or cannot reply to individual tweets and asking users to “revise" their language when tweeting rude or “harmful” content in an attempt to make its platform more habitable.