Twitter appears to halt paid option for verified account

Twitter appears to have paused its recently updated subscription service after the social media platform was flooded by a surge of fake accounts that exploited the relaunched system.

The company recently introduced the service Twitter Blue, which allowed any user to pay $7.99 a month for a verified account – designated by a blue check mark – and other privileges.

On Friday, however, the paid service was unavailable, according to multiple reports.

"Twitter accounts created on or after November 9, 2022 will be unable to subscribe to Twitter Blue at this time," the company stated on its website.

Impersonators have been able to exploit the new system, including those of several corporations and prominent people such as sports and political figures.

A fake account for "Jesus Christ" this week reportedly got a blue check.

The idea of anyone being able to pay for a verified account was pushed by billionaire Elon Musk, who recently purchased Twitter and is working as its CEO. Before he took over, blue check marks were only reserved for actors, journalists, politicians, and other high-profile people verified by the platform for free in order to prevent impersonators.

Musk has said one of his priorities is to get bot operators off Twitter and for the platform to be "the most accurate source of information about the world."