Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Twitter has paused its blue checkmark subscription service, which allowed users to have verified accounts for a $7.99 monthly fee, after a flood of online pranksters used the feature to impersonate brands and prominent figures.
Some users who already paid for verification saw their blue checkmarks disappear.
Prominent clients have also paused advertisements on the platform out of concerns over how disinformation will be handled moving forward.
Interpublic Group, a major advertising company, advised clients to pause all advertisement on the platform for at least a week after Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover. Interpublic Group's clients include Nintendo, CVS and Unilever.
Key staff, including Twitter's content moderation chief, were abruptly fired following Musk's takeover of the company, prompting a class-action lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco, alleging major violations of California's employment laws.
Public statements from former employees have raised concerns that the platform could become even more rife with disinformation and hate speech.
In October Musk announced that he would seek to create a "content moderation council" to address issues on the platform.
