Twitter drama continues with blue-tick confusion

More turmoil is surrounding Elon Musk and Twitter, as high-profile staff quit and the rules about verified accounts keep changing.

People on and off the platform have been raising concerns about the direction Twitter is going in under its new billionaire leader.

The grey "Official" badges returned less than two days after being removed.

And it's now being reported that Twitter has paused letting people sign up to it's Twitter Blue subscription, reports BBC.

According to the Washington Post, a note has been sent to Twitter staff to say it was temporarily delaying the new subscription service, whereby people pay for a blue check mark, while impersonation concerns are addressed.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission said it was watching events with "deep concern".

During his first few weeks as CEO, Mr Musk laid off some 3,700 workers - but had not spoken to the majority of staff who remained at Twitter.

His first email to employees warned: "The road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed."

"Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn," he said.

Official, or not?

The Twitter Blue subscription service allowed users to pay £6.99 ($7.99) per month for a blue tick. There would be a separate grey "official" badge for some high-profile accounts.

But on Wednesday Musk scrapped the new grey tick almost immediately, which added to the confusion.

However, on Friday new grey official badges for large organisations began reappearing on some Twitter profiles.

There has also been the emergence of fake accounts impersonating celebrities and politicians such as NBA star LeBron James and former UK prime minister Tony Blair.

US-based PR strategist Max Burns said he had seen fake accounts with the verified blue tick badge bought through Twitter Blue posing as support accounts for real airlines and asking customers who were trying to contact them on Twitter to direct message the fake accounts instead.

"How long until a prankster takes a real passenger's ticket information and cancels their flight? Or takes their credit card info and goes on a spending spree?" he said.

"It will only take one major incident for every airline to bail on Twitter as a source of customer engagement."