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Crawford also confirmed that the revamped Twitter Blue
subscription product, which will allow paid users to carry blue
check marks on their accounts, will not actually verify users'
identities.
The lack of ID verification is likely to raise concerns about
the possibility of people impersonating public figures.
Already, such concerns have caused Twitter to hold off on
launching the new version of Twitter Blue until after the U.S.
midterm elections on Tuesday, tweeted Yoel Roth, Twitter's head
of safety and integrity.
Fake accounts for government officials are a recurring issue for
Twitter globally, according to sources familiar with the matter
and researchers.
Not all Twitter accounts that were previously verified with a
blue check mark will get the "Official" label and the label is
not available for purchase, Crawford said.
Accounts that will receive the official label include
governments, commercial companies, business partners, major
media outlets, publishers and some other public figures, she
tweeted.
The introduction of a new label alongside the existing check
marks "creates a confusing system" where some, but not all,
previously verified accounts will be deemed official, said Jason
Goldman, a former Twitter board member who served as head of
product in its early years.
"It's a complete mess," he said.
The official label comes after an internal push by Twitter
policy executives, who had strong concerns about government
officials around the world being unlikely and unwilling to pay
for verified check marks, one source with knowledge of the
matter told Reuters.
Twitter, which has lost many members of its communication team,
did not respond to a request for further comment.
Crawford added on Tuesday that Twitter will "continue to
experiment with ways to differentiate between account types."
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru, Fanny Potkin in
Edmonton, Canada and Sheila Dang in Dallas; Editing by Josie Kao
and Stephen Coates)
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