Twitter will reportedly hold off on its plan to offer verification checkmarks as part of its retooled, $7.99-per-month Twitter Blue subscription service until after the midterm elections in the U.S. Tuesday.
Ryan Mac, Kate Conger and Mike Isaac of The New York Times viewed an internal Twitter post discussing the plans, signaling a change to its original intention to begin offering the revamped Twitter Blue Saturday.
Twitter’s Apple App Store listing reflected the upcoming update over the weekend, reading in part, “Blue checkmark: Power to the people: Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.” That language did not appear Monday.
The company did not respond to a request for comment—which was no surprise, given this development as part of Twitter’s massive layoffs last week.
The delay was presumably implemented with the midterm elections in mind, as Mac, Conger and Isaac reported that some of the remaining Twitter employees questioned the timing of the change and its potential use to interfere with the elections.
One manager working on the project told Mac, Conger and Isaac, “We’ve made the decision to move the launch of this release to Nov. 9, after the election.”
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