The New Twitter Verification Policy Goes into Effect from January 20th

Twitter’s revamped verification policy is launching on January 20th, 2021. Applications will open at some point in “early 2021,” a Twitter spokesperson tells The Verge. But January 20th is when the new policy takes effect and when the company says it will begin removing verification badges from inactive accounts and those that don’t meet its new requirements.

Some of the new changes in its verification policy include more lax profile information requirements to be eligible for verification, more granular and defined categories for verification badges, and new guidelines around when a verified account may lose its blue checkmark if inactive or if found in violation of Twitter’s policies.

The new categories will include government officials and companies, brands and nonprofit organizations. It will also include media outlets and journalists, entertainment figures and organizations, sports-related accounts, and a broad “activists, organizers and other influential individuals” category.

At some point next year, Twitter plans to introduce a way to label accounts that are either automated or once belonging to a person who has died.

For users who want to apply to be verified, Twitter will launch a new “self-serve application process” within the app at some point in early 2021 that will let applicants select a category for verification and confirming their identity. Twitter says it will use both human review and an automated system to wade through requests.