Now X posts can lock replies to solely enable remark from verified accounts

The most recent flip within the Elon Musk-directed platform X, beforehand generally known as Twitter, is that customers can now block unverified accounts from replying to their posts.

This transformation arrives about 11 months after Musk launched paid verification for Twitter Blue, apportioning blue checkmark labels to folks keen to half with $7.99 per thirty days. It additionally means it might be more durable for individuals who don’t pay for the service (except accounts pressured into verified standing) to refute misinformation, which researchers report has continued to extend.

There’s an argument that limiting replies to accounts verified by fee, cellphone quantity, or maybe even authorities ID may cut back harassment, trolling, and misinformation.

Nevertheless, that argument is rapidly undone, whether or not by the continued presence of bots with verified labels or a fast have a look at the present state of the platform. Since X already prioritizes replies from verified accounts, it’s simple to judge the standard of threads populated by paid checkmark posters. One response to X’s put up saying the function’s availability, from “Dave the reply man,” gleefully referred to as it “pay to win mode.”