Twitter relaunched its verification program last week, allowing anyone to apply for a blue check mark, but the company is pausing accepting new applications because of the volume of applications it has already received.

“We’re rolling in verification requests,” the company said in a tweet. “So we gotta hit pause on accepting any more for now while we review the ones that have been submitted. We’ll reopen requests soon! (we pinky swear)”

When it officially opened the program for applications on May 20th, the company cautioned that the timeline for requests could stretch out. “Once you submit your application, you can expect an emailed response from us within a few days, but this could take up to a few weeks depending on how many open applications are in our queue,” Twitter said in a blog. But it seems that the volume of applications has already become so large that Twitter has made the choice to pause applications entirely, just eight days after the program reopened.

With the new program (when it’s open, that is), anyone can apply to receive the coveted blue check, so it’s not altogether surprising that there have been an overwhelming number of applications. Under the new guidelines, six categories of accounts can qualify for verification: government; companies, brands, and organizations; news organizations and journalists; entertainment; sports and gaming; and activists, organizers, and other influential individuals.

Twitter previously suspended the verification in 2017 after it verified the account of a white supremacist. The company went back to the drawing board on its verification policies, introducing the new ones in January.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/28/22458914/twitter-verification-pause-applications-relaunch