Twitter will roll out gold and grey verification check marks when it relaunches the delayed blue tick service next week, owner Elon Musk has announced.

The move was “painful, but necessary”, the billionaire chief executive said in a post on the social media platform.

All verified accounts will be manually authenticated before the tick is activated, said Mr Musk.

He wrote: “Gold check for companies, grey check for governments, blue for individuals (celebrities or not). Painful, but necessary.”

In a further tweet, Mr Musk said: “Individuals can have a secondary tiny logo to show they belong to an organisation if verified as such by that organisation.”

He added a longer explanation would be provided next week.

The social media platform put on hold its recently announced $8 blue tick subscription service in the face of soaring fake accounts and said it would be relaunched on 29 November.

Elon Musk to ‘unlock doors to Twitter jail’ with amnesty for suspended accounts

World Cup: Elon Musk’s Twitter staff clearout may lead to ‘more’ prominent racism aimed at football players

Musk and Twitter: The end or a new beginning?

The blue check mark was previously reserved for verified accounts of politicians, celebrities, journalists and other public figures.

The details of the revamped authentication scheme come after Mr Musk announced he will grant an “amnesty” for suspended Twitter accounts, prompting warnings over a rise in harassment, hate speech and misinformation.

The tycoon had asked his more than 118 million followers to vote in a poll on reinstatements for accounts that have not “broken the law or engaged in egregious spam”.

The yes vote was 72%.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Read more:
Elon Musk to ‘unlock doors to Twitter jail’ with amnesty for suspended accounts
Donald Trump’s Twitter account is back after poll votes to lift his ban

The Tesla and SpaceX boss had previously reinstated the account of former president Donald Trump, almost two years after he was removed.

Mr Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter in January 2021 after the attack by his supporters on the US Capitol that left several people dead.

Twitter said the decision, after the riot, was “due to the risk of further incitement of violence”.

But the former US president has told supporters he did not see “any reason” for returning to Twitter.

Following Mr Musk’s $44bn Twitter takeover, many workers were either sacked by the company to cut costs, or left voluntarily.

Related posts:

US intelligence report does not confirm that UFO sightings are linked to aliens… nor rule it out Microbe that can break down plastic discovered in cow’s stomach Dehydration to the body overheating – how do humans die of heat? Ransomware: How does the criminal system work? What the scientists say as England heads towards 19 July lockdown easing Researchers find 14 living male descendants of Da Vinci in bid to uncover secret of his genius Online games branded ‘spiritual opium’ and ‘electronic drugs’ by Chinese state media Firefly rocket explodes moments after first launch Facebook apologises after algorithm puts ‘primates’ label on video of black men UK competition regulator tells Meta to sell GIF library Giphy Astronomers spot dying star just before it explodes and record supernova Facebook parent Meta reports weakest revenue growth for a decade as ad sales suffer