The verification programme refers to the blue ‘tick’ that is advertised on some Twitter profiles, which is used to demonstrate they are a notable, active and authentic account on the platform.

The social media platform paused its public verification programme three years ago, citing feedback that it was “arbitrary and confusing to many people”, according to a blog on Twitter’s website.

A draft version of the updated policy has been published, and Twitter is requesting public feedback on the proposals. The updated rules are designed to clarify who can become verified and when, why an account might be unverified, and what it means to be verified.

The new policy will identify six types of Twitter account that would be applicable for public verification: government; companies, brands and non-profit organisations; news; entertainment; sports; and activists, organisers and other influential individuals.

There are also proposals to remove verification from an account if they are no longer active or if they repeatedly break Twitter’s rules.

The social media firm will begin automatically removing verification from some accounts that are deemed inactive or which have incomplete profiles, and will expand this work to other types of accounts over the course of 2021. New Twitter account types and labels to verify accounts are also due to be announced in the coming weeks. 

“We know we can’t solve verification with a new policy alone – and that this initial policy won’t cover every case for being verified – but it is a critical first step in helping us provide more transparency and fairer standards for verification on Twitter as we reprioritise this work,” the blog states.

“This version of the policy is a starting point, and we intend to expand the categories and criteria for verification significantly over the next year.”