Twitter said Tuesday it has permanently suspended a “small number” of fake accounts it mistakenly verified just weeks after re-launching its public verification program.
“We mistakenly approved the verification applications of a small number of inauthentic (fake) accounts,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.
“We have now permanently suspended the accounts in question, and removed their verified badge, under our platform manipulation and spam policy.”
The company relaunched verifications in May after a years-long freeze on public submissions for the site’s blue check marks, saying only “notable” users would be awarded the badge.
The blunder came to light after data scientist Conspirador Norteño discovered six verified accounts which had been created recently on June 16th. None of them had posted a single tweet, and two used what appeared to be stock photographs for profile pictures.
