Climate Denial Crock of the Week

We’re witnessing a historic…uh..something.

Reuters:

Elon Musk’s Twitter Inc on Friday brought back the “official” badge to some accounts, just days after doing away with it, while several users reported the new subscription option for the blue verification check mark had disappeared.

The move follows a surge in fake accounts on the platform after new boss Elon Musk allowed users to pay $8 for the coveted blue check mark that was previously reserved for verified accounts of politicians, actors and other major personalities.

Fake accounts of several big brands have popped up with the blue check, including Musk’s Tesla (TSLA.O) and SpaceX as well as Roblox, Nestle (NESN.S)and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N).

“To combat impersonation, we’ve added an ‘Official’ label to some accounts,” Twitter’s support account – which has the “official” tag – tweeted on Friday. Musk on Wednesday tweeted he had “killed” the new label, just hours after rolling it out.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) issued an apology after an imposter account tweeted that insulin would be free, amid political backlash and scrutiny into the high prices of the medicine.

“We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account,” the company said, reiterating the name of its Twitter handle.

Among other examples, a number of misleading Tweets about Tesla from a verified account with the same profile picture as the company’s official account were being circulated on the platform.

Forbes:

Eli Lilly followers aren’t the only Twitter users to fall for fake verified accounts since Twitter Blue’s launch. New York Timesreporter Maggie Haberman retweeted news Thursday from a verified account pretending to be ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. “Yep just got fooled by the new Twitter verification system where the new owners, focused on ‘accuracy,’ have let people pretend to be reliable folks,” Haberman said in response to her confusion. 

Paid verified accounts pretending to be former President Donald Trump and Lebron James spread mass confusion on Twitter on Wednesday as Twitter Blue was released. Before the launch of Twitter Blue, Twitter attempted to double verify some big name accounts by tagging them with an “official” badge, before scrapping the program within hours. Some verified users were banned from Twitter last week by pretending to be Musk by using his name and image on their profiles, though Musk said those who clearly label themselves as parodies would not be suspended.

UPDATE: Don’t worry, Jesus is here.