Among the many, many critics of Elon Musk’s widely derided plan to stop Twitter verification — popularly known as “blue check status” — and replace it with an $8-per-month subscription plan open to all users is actor Rob Kazinsky.
The following tweet was sent on Wednesday in rare fashion. “True Blood”And “Eastenders”Star shared a story about his life that illustrates the true purpose of verification. Star argued that it was for verification to be used in this story. “verification is a public service,”And he stated that Twitter would be much safer if it was replaced by an open-to–anyone subscription plan. “scumbags”Prey on “Children and the vulnerable.”
This week’s plan went public. Originally, users would have been charged $20 to place a blue cheque next to their names. Musk reduced the amount to $8 after some resistance. He insists that he must do this to make ends meet, despite the fact that he is the wealthiest person in history.
Musk’s whole scheme seems to be based on a misunderstanding of what a blue check means, repeating right wing extremist claims that it is a status symbol and nothing more. But as a great many people have pointed out, verification just means that account holder has some kind of public relevance and that Twitter has confirmed they aren’t lying about their identity. This prevents identity theft and imposters, but it does not grant any special privileges or abilities. You can read more about it by clicking here.
That proof of identity isn’t just for the user themselves. Kazinsky explained Wednesday that it also protects others from being duped by imposters.
“Years ago, before verified accounts were a thing, back when I was on Eastenders, I was contacted multiple times by parents of children who had been “conversing”You can chat with me online. Children aged 11-15 years old had been communicating with a fake person. I was informed one of these children went missing,” he said.
Kazinky explained that at the time this happened, sometime between 2006 and 2009, he wasn’t on social media and “didn’t understand”He said it was “a horror show.”
“For years people pushed for some way, to root out the fakes. There was a phase, if you remember, of people posting images of themselves with their URL. I did that on every site I could find, Facebook, myspace, Bebo, anything,”He went on.
“I felt powerless to stop people using my name and face to scam or groom people. That’s why verification came to be. Because it was important to protect people. It wasn’t for clout, or for leveraging money from a platform. It was to protect people from utter scumbags,”He said.
Kazinsky said he isn’t very active on social media and doesn’t particularly like the internet, and that his twitter account “exists so that fake accounts can’t.”
He argued that Twitter verification should be removed. “that simple ability to protect people, to protect children with verification,”he claimed would make Twitter more popular. “dead in the water.”
“I hope someone is explaining to @elonmusk the actual dangers to children and the vulnerable and why removing that protection, is an action that will lead directly to a child being endangered,”He went on.
“Verification is a public service, it is a good deed performed by companies who contribute very little good to the world in my opinion. We should be making easier clearer paths to verification for everyone, not making it harder. It is their responsibility, not a business model,”Kazinsky concluded.
You can read his complete commentary below.