Twitter has continued to verify thousands of accounts despite claiming that its verification program had been put on hiatus in 2017, Mashable reports.
Among the more than 10,000 accounts said to have been verified in the last several months include “Jack Dorsey’s mother and father” as well as “the ’80s band Whitesnake.”
Despite Twitter asserting on its website that its “verified account program is currently on hold,” high-profile individuals continue to receive verification while less notable accounts are left without options.
Although the company previously received pushback for verifying select accounts, including those belonging to survivors of the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting and NFL star Tom Brady, Mashable reports that many more have “flown under the radar.” Most of the recent verifications have been for celebrities and people connected to the company.
When confronted on the issue, Twitter confirmed in a statement to Mashable that it was indeed verifying certain accounts.
“We have paused public submissions for verification while we focus on a new authentication and verification program,” a spokesperson said. “However, our teams around the world continue to work closely with trusted partners to verify select accounts.”
Using a third-party Twitter analytics service, Mashable was able to confirm that over the course of 120 days, a total of 13,767 users were verified. The findings were based off of Twitter’s official @verified account, which automatically follows any account that has been verified by the company.
The so-called pause began in November 2017 after the verification of Jason Kessler, the organizer behind the deadly Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, led to widespread outcry.
Although Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey promised to relaunch the verification program nearly a year and a half ago, the company has failed to do so, leaving countless users without celebrity status in the dark.
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