Twitter gives a blue check verified mark to Jesus Christ account

On Thursday, CNN reported that Twitter gave a blue check verified mark to an account impersonating Jesus Christ. This came as a surprise to many as Twitter owner Elon Musk is known for his aversion to fake accounts.

Twitter blue in action

The mark was a result of Twitter blue that offers verified accounts (popularly called ‘blue ticks’) for $7.99 (dollars). However, other fake accounts have not fared so well.

Fake Nintendo, fake Trump, fake Valve, and fake LeBron have had their accounts suspended, after first acquiring the blue check. The company says it is “aggressively going after impersonation and deception” but it seems every time an account is taken down another one surfaces.

"Twitter has given a blue check verified mark to Jesus Christ ... Things are getting a bit confusing at Twitter under Elon Musk."@donie reports on the surge of fake accounts on Twitter as the paid verification system launches. pic.twitter.com/P69rDWw5TF

— CNN (@CNN) November 10, 2022

News outlet The Verge compared it to a game of whack-a-mole.

To justify the constant changes that the platform is undergoing, Musk tweeted, "Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works and change what doesn't."

The first feature that Musk created was killed under 24 hours. 

The 'Official Account' Badge was up Tuesday for a limited number of accounts.

The word 'Official' would be shown on the accounts that had been verified by Twitter staff, as being who they claim to be. This was to replace the Twitter Blue check mark that had previously been the way the social media platform verified its accounts.

Ester Crawford, a Twitter early-stage product manager attempted to explain the feature ahead of roll out.

“A lot of folks have asked about how you'll be able to distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official, which is why we’re introducing the “Official" label to select accounts when we launch,” she said in a tweet.

"I killed it"

However, by Wednesday, the word official was gone from the accounts that had them. To explain this absence, Musk simply tweeted "I killed it," followed by the cryptic "Blue check will be the great leveler."

Why the assumption I am fake? https://t.co/az8yi4kpp5

— Jesus Christ (@jesus) November 10, 2022

On the same day, the billionaire shared his thoughts on Twitter’s plan to enter the payments market. The plan is to allow Twitter users to send money to others on the platform, extract that cash to external bank accounts and even offer the option of a high-yield money market account.

These endeavors have advertisers worried as they indicate that the platform won’t be reliant on their dollars. Musk did try to assuage their fears by stating he was committed to meeting their long term goals. However, with all the constant changes happening, advertisers do have cause for concern. What will Musk, and as a result Twitter, do next? Perhaps give God a verified account?