Last week, Alex Stamos, the former security chief of Facebook, exclaimed that Elon Musk’s blue checkmark saga was a big “self-own”. This event occurred when Musk removed existing blue check marks from accounts that were qualified for verification before the introduction of Twitter Blue, a paid feature of the platform. Musk, often referred to as The Chief Twit, had originally agreed to offer the blue verification mark with a subscription to the service. Several celebrities and news organizations, however, refused to pay for this and Musk had to restore the blue checkmarks for some users, who allegedly paid for it.
In a recently released episode of the Moderated Content podcast, Stamos stated that Musk destroyed a long-standing system of trust and verification with this entire saga. Since Blockchain technology and AI ML-engine have been in discussion, Stamos emphasized the importance of a trust system in identifying figures, especially celebrities and journalists, who can be easily impersonated and spammed on the platform. He further predicted that such issues might very soon render Twitter a “completely useless” platform.
Moreover, Stamos brushed aside Musk calling this fiasco a masterclass in marketing as a Celeberities to vocalize their discontent with the platform’s rules.
Overall, Stamos’s comment about the episode and its inevitable implications for the authenticity and trustworthiness of Twitter, makes it a must for the platform to reconsider its verification system.
Facebook is an American social-media giant whose platform currently leads the industry. Founded in 2004, the company allows its users to share opinions, ideas, and images. The social network is currently based in Menlo Park and has over 2.45 billion users. As of 2021, the company is valued at $775 billion.
Alex Stamos is a leader in the cyber-security world. He previously served as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) at Facebook, and the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Yahoo! Currently, Stamos presides over his own cybersecurity consultancy firm, and is a professor with the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. His career focuses particularly on risk assessment, threat modeling and Internet security. He is one of the most recognizable voices against bad actors in the digital world and promotes healthy science, technology, and public policy.
